The Demonic Duo
by Zacaro
Summary: Two survivors. Two fighters. One path. A back-stabbed Demon Lord and an unfortunate assassin who is caught in the chaos. Humans are at war. The demon army is rising. Elrios is on the brick of destruction. The Elgang and the Demonic Duo against an entire race. There's no time to waste. It's time to raise hell...and not everyone gets out alive. [90% Complete]
1. Preview

**Hello there, my name's Zacaro! And this story is focused on Lu/Ciel, the brave Duo of Elsword!**

**The story will be long, deep and complicated, you have been warned.**

**Also, for the first half of this story, it will be told in the first person view of either Lu or Ciel. After that, the story will continue in the third person.**

**And the story will include all the other fighters and they will be an important part of the story too. The Elgang will learn together, fight together, and grow together.**

**I hope you enjoy the preview, and if you do, try giving the story a shot! I'll try my best to not disappoint! C:**

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Is this...is this the end...?

Is this where it ends for me?

Am I...am I **dying?**

My consciousness is...fading...ever so slowly...it's fading...

My legs can support me no longer, they give up weakly and I collapse onto my bruised back My entire body goes numb, so incredibly numb that I can no longer endure the excruciating pain in my chest, the unbearable pain of bleeding out. Is someone shouting? Is someone calling my name? I can faintly hear distant screams and cries for my name, but who would call for me? There's no one I know that would be bothered if I died. Perhaps it's the voices of the afterlife, perhaps my time truly is up. I...I don't want it to end here, not here, and definitely not like this, not by the hands of a demon. I don't want to die. I don't want to. It happened all too suddenly. The hole in my heart won't stop pumping out my crimson-coloured blood onto myself like a deadly blanket.

I cannot let myself die now, I finally have someone to live for, to fight for, to protect. My eyes are becoming more heavy...no...no...please...no. Please don't let me die like this. Lying like a weakling on the cold, unsettling ground in the middle of a battlefield, I can't hear the shrieks of agony from the innocent people anymore, and the deep growling of the demons gradually begin to wash away too. All my attention is now focused at the last thing I'll ever see, the bright, white moon. Its elegant, majestic light pours down on me from above. I never realized it until now, just how beautiful the moon was with all of its shine. It has so much light, so much life.

With whatever strength was left in my arms, I raise my right hand and stretch it out, hoping to grab it. Desperately holding out for it, for it to fall into my hand and give me its light.

Then the feeling in my arms leave me too, it flops to the ground without my knowledge, and all I'm left to do is simply stare sadly at it now and allow the weight squeezed down on my eyelids to forcefully close my eyes.

**And like any human being with no light left in them, I died.**

N-no, am I dead...? I'm not sure anymore, I can no longer feel my own blood gush through my veins, nor feel the comforting sensation of my heart beating, so this must be death, right? I'm stuck in some kind of room, an empty void filled with absolute nothingness. Just empty space for as far as the human eyes can see. A bright, blinded light flashes painfully into my eyes, wait…I can still see light?

"Ciel? Ciel?! Ciel, can you hear me?" A soft, angelic voice whispers to me.

A young, innocent girl wrapped in bright light stands in front of me. Those horns...that face...it's hard to make out, she's so bright, but I think I recognize her, it's the one I saved. The girl with no memory, the one who stayed with me and let me take care of her, the one who gave me the sense of purpose.

"Ciel...I bought us a bit of time..." She says while smiling to me.

"...I remember now, I finally remember everything. My name, who I am, my past, Ciel, you're dying. There's little to no time left for you, I can bring you back, you'll have to leave half of your humanity behind anyway, but I can still save you."

"What? You can still…save me?" I manage to stutter.

"Yes. If you want me to. But our souls will be connected for life, and you'll be forced to stick by my side and follow me to the very depths of Hell if you have to. It's your choice, Ciel."

The light emitting from her is quickly fading...she's right...we don't have much time left. She lifts her little, faint hand and holds it in front of me. She...wants me to...take it...

She stares at me desperately, tears forming around the edge of her large, round eyes. She sniffs weakly and weeps softly at the end of each word that she pleaded.

"Please, you're the only thing I have left. **Status, honor, power. I've lost everything. Before the embers of my life go out...will you...**

…**become my royal strength?"**


	2. No 1: Betrayal

**Hello all, I'm back with a proper chapter now! After having some very encouraging reviews I've decided to start an actual series now. Once again I shall say (For anyone just starting to read) This series WILL mostly follow the main plot from the game but don't worry, this is a fan fiction and as such I will still be changing many things to keep it interesting and fresh. **

**I would like to thank: MitusAura and YuHime for following and putting this story into their favourites. Thank you for your support! :D**

**And yes. I shall be thanking people who support this series at the beginning of very chapter. Because you deserve it :)**

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"The Overlord is dead."

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" I request.

"You heard me, Luciela. Our Overlord is dead. He had a heart attack overnight, the medical team couldn't save him. He's gone." Merisalla tells me with an anxious tone in her voice being quite present, she smiles calmly at me to reassure me that nothing was wrong.

"Then...then that means..." I hesitate slowly and gradually, Merisalla takes in a deep breath and heaves a heavy sigh.

"Yes, the council has already been assembled and are discussing the matter now. You know the rules, we _need _an Overlord."

I can't help but feel good inside. This is it. _This _is what I've been waiting for! The Overlord is finally gone...which means that one of the high ranks of the Demon Lords will be selected to take the title. This is my time. I mustn't be afraid, I shall force myself into the rank. I've already gotten many followers, people who want _me _to take the title of Overlord. This is my chance, and I'd be a fool not to take it.

With the help of my followers and Merisalla, none of the other Demon Lords stand a chance. I can imagine it now, being the Overlord. The entire Demon Realm under my command, previous Overlords were idiots, fools. They didn't know how to properly make use of their title. I'll be different. I shall make a change.

"Merisalla...you remember when we discussed what our plan of action would be when this happens?" I whisper.

"Yes...yes of course. Are you...are you absolutely certain that this is what you want to do?" She says nervously.

"I'm certain, Merisalla. This might be our only shot. We will storm straight through the main gates and I'll claim the title. By force if I have to...and I need you by my side through this. We've talked about this ever since we were young..."

"You mean _you _have been talking about this since we were young." She grumbles.

"...and we've already got many people who would fight to the death for my goal." I continue while ignoring her little comment.

She folds her arms and bites her index finger's nail. Tapping her foot a bit while in deep thought.

"But...to effectively claim the title of Overlord we'd need an ally that was close to him, right?" She tilts her head.

"I...I suppose so..."

The tapping of her foot becomes slightly faster. She begins fiddling with her hair and turns away, as though unable to look at me. What is she so anxious about?

"Well. I _do_ know a certain someone that could help you with your 'goal'. A person that has been close to the Overlord for a long time. If we can convince this person to aid us...taking the title of Overlord should go off without a hitch."

I can't hold it in, I almost burst with happiness!

"Yes, that would be wonderful! I agree!" I blurt out.

She puts on a nervous grin.

"Then we're going to have to visit my old friend, Karis."


	3. No 2: Life of Assassins

**Hey all, here's another chapter. This time from Ciel's point of view as I said I'll be switching the POV between them. I hope you all enjoy~! :D**

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_Death. It takes everyone. It doesn't matter who or where you are…it takes you. It never makes exceptions, dragging people away. No matter how important you are to other people. That's an important lesson I've learnt, and one I shall never forget. _Tears fire down my cheek uncontrollably. Mother and Father are lying on the floor, motionless, a large pool of blood surrounding them. Their eyes are still open...but they're lifeless. I kneel next to them, my hands shaking. A man in a brown coat watching from a distance walks over, kneels next to me, slowly removes his hat and sighs.

"Sorry, kid..." He murmurs.

I say nothing.

"How'd it happen?"

"G-group of bandits...t-they came out of nowhere...they had knives...b-big knives. They stabbed Mother and Father...so quickly..." I sniff.

"Well then...no parents? No home? Nowhere to turn to? No options for ya left?"

I wipe away my dry tears with my sleeves.

"N-no..."

He puts on a fake smile on his emotionless face and shakes his head, a cold, unsettling shiver slithers up my spine as my eyes meet his.

"Then welcome to the criminal's world, kiddo."

**Yeah...yeah that night...the ****_damned_**** night that started it all...**

* * *

"Please...please no..._please_ don't kill me!" The fat man yelps in pathetic fear.

His body shakes uncontrollably, crawling across his bedroom's floor. His hand over his heart. Sensitive statues, files of paperwork, plastic chairs and other things lying around his room topple over as he desperately tries to get away. No need to be worried though, he's cornered. Sweat showers down his bright red face, the direction of his eyes turn to the weapon resting by my side. My handy Gunblades. His eyes bulge out even more than before, if that's even physically possible. He tries his very best to plea some more but the words fail to form from his extreme stuttering. All he manages to get out through his chattering teeth is: "Don't."

I can't help but let out a heavy sigh. I step closer to him and carefully put my hand on his shoulder. His rapid breathing starts to slow down, the colour of his face slowly returning to normal. I look him dead in the eyes and give a calm, relaxed expression. Soon enough his teeth stop chattering as well. His facial expression also becomes relaxed like mine. I try my best to give him a kind smile.

"That's right. Breathe slowly, catch your breath. Everything's gonna be OK, just calm down." I say softly while keeping my smile.

He becomes much more relaxed like I requested but still stays cautious.

"Are you here to kill me?"

If only I had a ED every time I've been asked that question...

My arm darts to my side like lightning, I quickly unsheathe my Gunblade and put it to his throat.

"N-no! Wai-"

The tip of the Gunblade fires across the rough skin of his neck. Blood spurts disgustingly out of the cut, I get up from my kneeling position and watch the life leave his shaking body. With whatever strength was left within him he puts his hands to his throat and tries to keep his precious blood in, I shake my head with disappointment in response. He's fighting an impossible battle. I wish this procedure was quicker. I'm feeling sick..._again._

"Yo Ciel, you finished over there?" Brian Willat yells from downstairs.

"Yeah...its over. The boss' is taken care of. What about you?" I yell back as I make my way to the fancy-looking glass stairs.

"Yup. They're done for. They did give me a _smidge _of trouble though. Is it just me or are these assignments getting more and more difficult?"

"Its just you." I reply as I reach the bottom of the stairs.

And of course, I'm greeted by piles of dead men in business suits and a smug-looking man standing in the middle of them. He removes his handkerchief from his breast pocket and wipes the unsettling blood from his seemingly ancient Katana. All while retaining his smug look.

"Not half bad, eh?"

"I care little for bragging, Brian. And even less for bragging about murder."

"Pfft, fine. Be like that. Still not enjoying your job, I see. Bah...you'll learn to soon enough."

"Not every assassin is sadistic like you." I reply bluntly.

He says nothing and just howls with laughter. Oh, how much I want to kill him. Its almost unbearable.

"Alright, lets pack everything up and get the hell outta here. We need to pull off one more job before the day's done."

"What about the bodies? We always take care of them first, 'quick and clean' remember?"

"Ah don't worry mate, Bill and Johnny are coming in a few minutes to scan the mansion for any type of intel that might make our lives a little easier. Bill told me him and Johnny will take care of the mess. He owes me a clean up after I beat him in poker last night. I hate having to clean up after each job..."

"You probably cheated."

"And why do you say that?"

"You _always_ cheat in poker, everyone knows that. It sort of your 'thing' and don't even get me started on how many times you've been caught."

"That's not true! I don't always cheat!" He whimpers defensively.

I give him a hard stare and raise my eyebrow.

"...but I _might_ of cheating this time." He finishes.

I sigh.

He begins to walk with me to the door but hesitates and stops halfway.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Is my communicator buzzing...?" He asks himself as he reaches for his pocket.

"...yup. It is, its boss. One minute..." He says to me as he answers.

"...Err...hello? Hello? Ah...yeah...yeah. I got you comin' loud and clear, boss. What's up? Yeah...uh huh. Yup. Okay. Yeah. Wait...what? Y-you serious right now? Really? How much is being offered? No way, you're kiddin'...10 million ED? Well...consider it done. We'll head there right now. Okay. Yes. Okay. Bye." He ends the call.

"Well?"

He starts to jog and I follow suit. He turns to me but doesn't stop running.

"Shit has really gotten down now."

"What do you mean?"

"Velder's calling for help. Our help. They want someone taken care of and they're offering a _lot_ of money for the job to be done."

I climb behind Brian on his motorcycle waiting outside the mansion. He starts up the engine.

"Got it, what's our target?"

"A man that's apparently the captain of the 'Crow Mercenary Knights'. Wanted for treason but has somehow escaped and is currently on the run. We need to get over there _right_ now."

"His name?"

"Raven."


	4. No 3: The Succubus

"Pathetic. C'mon, put up more of a fight! What happened to the mighty 'Luciela R. Sourcream'? This really is just pathetic...I was kinda hoping for a good fight, isn't the title of Demon Lord given to demons that can actually hold their own in battle? Yet beating you will be far too easy! Since we both know this is the end for you, why don't you just give up? I promise if you do I'll make your imprisonment quick and painless...mostly." Karis giggles in delight as I fly backwards from her punch.

My back collides against a wall. My legs wobble and fail to hold my weight any longer. I embarrassingly fall to my cut, bruised knees. I breathe heavily and concentrate my magic to heal my wounds. Small flashes of blue light curl around my arms and legs, getting to work on my injures. My eyes meet Karis and Merisalla...hiding behind her. She looks horrified as she watches the fight unfold from behind Karis' back. I brush my long, blond hair out of my eyes.

"So..._this_ is your 'old friend' Merisalla? How...how long...have you been planning on betraying me? Decided on it recently or planned this whole thing from the beginning...?" I pant.

Merisalla turns to Karis and looks at her, as though to get her permission. Karis stares at me and nods her head.

"Go on, Merisalla. She doesn't have that long left. The plan has already gone through perfectly. She won't tell anyone, she _can't_ tell anyone." Karis giggles happily, she was enjoying every single last moment of what was going on, feeding off of Luciela's despair.

Merisalla bites her lip a bit more and comes out from behind Karis. She stares at the floor, tears roll down her cheek and drops to the floor. She doesn't look at me as she speaks.

"I'm...I'm so sorry, I haven't been planning this from the beginning. I swear. For so many years I've been sticking by your side, I've always been by your side. Through thick and thin."

"Yeah, just like how you're at my side right now." I hiss in pure anger.

"As...as I said...I've always been by your side...but recently I started having my doubts about whether or not you being the next Overlord would be the best idea, you're inpatient, ruthless...ready to do anything to reach your goal but still...still I believed, since I've been your friend for so long, that I should stand by your side until you were Overlord.

"T-Then, what happened?"

"Karis, she came to me, explained to me exactly what would have happened if you were allowed to take the title. The title of Overlord. There has never been a female Overlord before. The people of this world would reject the idea of you becoming the Overlord, most of them would start to protest and refuse to follow your orders. You would act rashly and most likely lash out in anger against your own people. Eventually starting a revolution, and that's the last thing our world needs right now. Karis explained all of this to me. She told me she'd found a 'perfect' person to become the next Overlord, I soon met him myself, and I agree that he would be a much better option...you are unworthy of taking the title, Luciela. Please understand. It wasn't meant to be."

"You...you shut your mouth! You don't know anything! You don't know how long I've waited for this! How many hardships I've come across on my path! You're wrong! I...I...I'll...I'll kill you both!" I screech.

Tears swell up in my eyes, I try to hold them back and wait for Merisalla's reply. It doesn't come. She simply continues to stare and the floor. For a split-second I think I hear her whisper..."Sorry."...?

Karis walks in front of Merisalla and shoves her out of the way. She looks at me, injured on the floor, and cracks her black knuckles. She wanders over to me and grins.

"Well, I think that's quite enough talking. I've gotten bored of this. I truly hope you've made your final prayers, Luciela R. Sourcream. 'Cause it's about time you die." She exclaims with glee as she summons a pink scythe into her left hand and swings it around playfully.

No, I can't die like this! This isn't how it's meant to go, I have a world to rule, I cannot allow a simple Succubus to slay me here. Please, just heal faster…

"No!" Merisalla yells at Karis.

"Hm?" Karis hums in confusion as she looks back at Merisalla.

"Karis, we had a deal! Y-You promised if I brought Luciela to this cave you would spare her life and only sub-due her! You can't kill her!" She cries.

"Oh yeah, right. Sorry about that Meri, completely forgot. I suppose I got carried away...sure, I'll spare her." She says to Merisalla calmly.

Slowly a look of relief spreads across Merisalla's face. She takes in a deep breath and lets out a heavy sigh. She smiles at Karis nervously.

"Oh, thank god. For a second there I thought-" Merisalla began to say before Karis suddenly teleported behind her.

"Sorry Meri, but you forgot who you made a deal with." She whispers in Merisalla's ear.

Before Merisalla could even react, Karis slashes her dark scythe forward and stabs the sharp point clean through Merisalla's stomach. Her head jerks back and she looks at Karis. All Karis does is smile and wink at Merisalla. She looks down at her cut stomach and clenches it. Dark, crimson blood pours from the wound. Her legs shake and fail to function anymore.

"H-help..." She whispers as she falls to the ground.

I close my eyes and pray for her. She might have betrayed me...but she didn't want me to die. She really thought stopping me from becoming Overlord would protect our people. May her soul rest easy. I finish up on my healing and stand straight up again, Karis loses her attention on Merisalla's dying body and instead goes back to focusing on me. Her happy-go-lucky expression slowly fades, being replaced with a slightly annoyed frown. She readies her scythe and stares at me as I summon multiple energy claws to protect me. I use my magic to lift Merisalla's body and gently place it away from both of us. I'll quickly end this Succubus and give her a proper grave...soon.

"I...didn't know you could heal yourself." Karis says, irritated.

"You're right, Karis. Demon Lords should be able to hold their own in a fight. The only reason you inflicted damage on me was because I was caught off-guard. Such a thing shall not happen again."

"Enough talk. I can still kill you, and I shall!" She yells as she darts towards me.

I raise my hand.

"Evil claw!" I shout as I use my dark magic to summon a larger claw. The claw appears from the ground and punches down near Karis. She spreads out her wings and flies. Dodging the claw in the process. Karis fires down several energy balls. "Ultimate Barrier." I whisper as a dark blue shield materializes around me. The energy balls ricochet off the shield, making a few cracks, but the shield remains intact. "Flame of the Devil" I yell while black flames spin around me before firing towards Karis.

"Hahaha! How amusing! This'll be much more fun than I expected!" She laughs, enjoying the thrill of the fight.

She waits until the my flames get close then lifts her scythe and slashes away at them. Her weapon cuts through the flames and they disperse. I curse under my breath. Since when did an ordinary succubus become a challenge for a Demon Lord? If any of the Lords hear about this fight and that I had trouble with against her...I'd lose my reputation for sure. I've had quite enough with this, It's time end it here. Slowly I place my hand on the ground and focus my magic.

"Void Dragon."

Karis stares at me. Completely dumbfounded.

"Eh? Just what exactly are you doing...? Well, it doesn't even matter. Now I'll just-" She begins to ramble.

The floor crackles and shakes. The rocks on the ground start to float in mid-air, small sparks of dark blue lightning burst from under the surface and whiz around uncontrollably. Tiny particles of time-space energy form and collide together behind me. They form into a holographic dragon. Karis begins to shiver and looks anxious. She holds up her scythe defensively.

"W-what are you...doing?" She stutters.

I stare at her and do the same thing she did when she killed Merisalla. I smile and wink at her scared, unsure face.

"W-why you little brat. Nok Spear!" She screams as she creates dark runes and fires them at me. Unsurprisingly the runes just bounce right off the shield I summoned.

"Goodbye, Karis. See you in the next life."

I point my finger to Karis' direction and the dragon, made of my energy, listens to my command and flies towards her. I watch the fiery explosion as it expands where Karis once stood. I can't help but grin. The outcome of this fight was predetermined, someone like Karis couldn't hope to stand a chance against me. The dragon disperses as I, its master, tell it to. I turn my back and begin walking away from the destruction I had caused. Now, where is Merisalla's corpse? I should take it with me out of this cave...

"Did you _honestly_ think it was over?" A devilish voice mocks.

What the...

"Dark Light!" Karis laughs as a crowd of bats fire straight at me. I shriek in pure agony as the bats collide and rip through my skin. I sense my magic weaken and fail to power the shield. It shatters as I fall to my knees...again. Karis appears out of the smoke from the explosion I caused earlier and strides to me. Lifting her scythe. No...she's going to finish me off...my magic won't heal me fast enough. I need to think of something..._anything!_

"On your knees, barely hanging on to life. Looks like we're back to where we started, no? Only this time..._I'll kill you for sure!_" She screams as she strikes her scythe down to me.

**But it doesn't make contact.**

The scythe is stopped by a strange, blue light. The light acts as a second skin and protects me. What is this? I didn't summon any shield...I don't even know what spell this is...

"W-what? What's this?...No...no...Merisalla...you did this?! You're still alive?!" She yells in frustration and confusion.

I direct my vision to where Karis is staring. Merisalla is lying on the ground...but her eyes are still open. Weird tattoos on her arm glow a bright yellow light. She coughs up blood and gazes at me.

"I'm...sorry...Luciela...It...wasn't...supposed...to...be...this...way. This...is...the...least...I...can...do...now..." She struggles to let out, she releases one last painful, weak gasp as she reaches her hand out to me.

Her eyes close and her head drops down. She's dead.

"No, damn it, no! This isn't how it was planned it, I can't let you get away!" Karis begins frantically yelping at me.

The blue light around me gets stronger and stronger. Everything around me becomes too bright, so bright until I eventually can't see anything...what's going on? What's going to happen to me...? Everything is spinning...too fast. The last thing I see before my consciousness abandons me is...Karis cursing and reaching out her hand to grab me...but she can't.

What's...no...my...eyes feel...heavy...no...I can't...I mustn't...fall...unconscious...I mustn't...fall...

**Chains slither and curl around the lonely woman. Fixes itself to trap her, to **_**never**_** let her escape.**


	5. No 4: Raven The Taker

**Hey everyone, how are you all? I'm here once more, bringing you a new chapter! Things have been pretty busy for me and I've been trying my best to keep things sorted...but don't worry! I'll keep on releasing as usual, and thanks for your support!**

**I would also like to give a shout out to Fullfatalis for an encouraging review. Glad to know you enjoyed! :D**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

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"I...I can't do it!"

"Nonsense, kid. There's no turning back now. You've made your decision already, right? I've already prepared everything for you. You need to do this. You need to learn how to kill." Brian snaps at me sharply.

We stand over piles of broken property, chairs, tables, mirrors, you name it. A man in the middle of the mess, wearing a plain shirt and shorts, lies on the floor. Unconscious. Brian stands beside me, staring hard at the knife in my small hands. The knife he gave me. The man on the floor doesn't move, not an inch. Brian takes the needle he injected poison with, wipes it clean with his handkerchief and throws it out of the open window. The way we got in. The unconscious man's eyes are still wide open. His jaw opened, as though he was suddenly frightened. He remains a statue, laying there. Motionless.

"C'mon, kid. There is no need to hesitate. You wanna survive. You told me yourself. Well, here you go. This is how we survive in these harsh, unforgiving streets. We might be criminals, but we do what any other living being does: we do anything we can to live."

"B-but taking other people's lives...even if you survive...by doing it...how can you live with yourself? This...this life isn't ours to take, even if he does bad things…." I sniff, my arms shaking terribly. My body in its entirety feels like it can collapse at any moment. My knees are shivering, my eyes are widened, I look like a nervous wreck.

Brain, my mentor, remains silent for a few moments, thinking of a response. Eventually, he sighs and shakes his head, a sad smile plastered onto his face. He gets up from his crouched position and places a hand on my shoulder.

"I take each day as it comes, kiddo. It's hard but if you have nothing to call your own, this is the only way. You can do it. I've already poisoned him, he's paralysed. He can't move, he won't even feel it. Trust me, this is the easy part." He mutters in a gruff voice.

"W-what do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"What I mean is, most targets you'll have to take care of in the future won't be paralysed like this guy. If you're really lucky, once or twice you might catch them while they're sleeping, but for the most part you're targets will be moving and talking. They'll look you in the eyes, beg you not to kill them. It's hard the first couple of times."

"So...this...this is the easiest part...?"

"That's right, kiddo."

He takes his hands off my shoulders and looks at the unconscious man, then back to me. His hard eyes watching what I'll decide to do. Say no, keep my innocence, return to the streets and die just to not be a killer? Or to forget everything about innocence, to do what I must to stay alive and keep myself healthy, and become a cold-blooded killer?

I clench the knife, glare at the paralysed man and make the choice that would change my life forever. More than I could ever know.

Blood gushes out of the wound from the hole in his throat, the one I made with Brian's kni-...no._ My_ knife.

Brian gets up, smiling at me. He turns to the window, ready to make our escape. He reaches out his hand. I take it. We flee from the scene...the knife in my hand with me. Large drops of blood dripping from the edge of it. It doesn't bother, not anymore. It shouldn't, not to an assassin of the night.

* * *

Wind flows furiously through my black hair. I squint my eyes slightly, trying my best to keep the sand and dirt out of them. All of this dust and dirty in intolerable, but Brian had insisted that we take his motorcycle.

Traveling by foot would have taken far too long, and targets do not simply wait around to be killed, so there isn't much of an option. I glance at Brian, grinning smugly as he drives the vehicle. I do not know why he loves this piece of machinery so much, but I decide not to question it. Brian readjusts the brown hat on his head as it almost slips off and turns around for a second to look at me.

"This baby is a real beauty, eh?" Brian laughs with pride from the front of his motorcycle, speeding it up as he does so, probably on purpose.

"It's extremely fast, I'll give you that." I respond.

"Damn right! But speed isn't the only thing this beauty has got, check out the paint job. It's a masterpiece."

"Too simple in my opinion, silver with dark blue flames running across it...I mean, it's not bad, but it's not really unique." I sigh, not knowing where my own taste in motorcycles had come from.

"...I'm going to pretend you didn't just say my baby is too simple..." He whispers to himself in a hiss.

"How did you even get this thing anyway?" I ask him, sensing something suspicious.

"What? I can't have just bought it?"

"No. We don't make that much money, and you would never spend that much ED on anything even you _had_ the money."

"That's insulting."

"Did you buy this thing?"

"...None of your business."

Admittedly, I laugh a small bit inside. He definitely stole it.

Around to the west of where we're driving I begin to see something in the distance, through the dust and sand gathering up around us. It's the vague outlining of a city, I believe. There's only one place that comes to mind when thinking of a large city near Velder, could that place be the kingdom of Hamel?

"Hey Brian, is that Hamel over there?" I ask while pointing to the figure in the distance.

"Ah, you noticed. Yep, it's it. I've actually been there a few times, you know. It's an expansive place, ridiculously well-guarded though, never got to steal anything on my trips there."

"I see, I've heard I lot about that kingdom, it's said to be one of the most peaceful places in all of Elrios, is it not?"

"Peaceful? That place? Dear me, Ciel, you obviously haven't heard the news about that kingdom."

"News? What news?"

"Hamel is under attack."

"Under attack? By whom?"

"Demons."

Demons. It makes sense. Those damned things have been appearing all over Elrios recently, out of absolutely nowhere, now Hamel is under attack by them. Those vermin had come out of nowhere, attacking people indiscriminately for the past six months. I hadn't considered them much of a threat since the Red Knights said they'll take care of the issue, but hearing the news of Hamel's distress now is causing me to think twice.

"Should we help?" I ask.

"Are you kidding? We're not abandoning our mission for them. There hasn't been a reward given, and besides. You know we wouldn't stand a chance..."

"Why do you say that?"

"Cause not even the Prince, the Guardian of all of Hamel, is able to take care of the current situation happening over there. A fighter who has been _raised_ to be prepared for any kind of fight."

"The Prince?"

"Aye, his name is 'Prince Seiker' if I remember correctly. Apparently, from what I heard, the Prince was defeated and now Hamel is requesting support from the Red Knights."

"How could you possibly know about all of this?"

"News travels around fast, kiddo." He smirks.

We finally pass the empty, boiling heat and eventually reach a large patch of trees. Just past the trees I can see tall, proud silver gates. So, this is Velder.

"Okay, listen close now. We've got one mission and one mission only, kill the man making his escape from Velder's authority. Since this man is supposedly a part of the Crow Mercenary Knights, He'll be strong, and he's not just any member. He's the captain. Which trust me, is not an easy feat. He'll probably be very well-skilled... so we do this job like how we do all the others." He tells me as he slows down the motorcycle, soon reaching a stop.

"Quick and clean, right?"

He gives off a proud grin and nods, he taught me that phrase.

Brian and I jump off the motorcycle and lean it against one of the leafy trees.

"C'mon." He says as he quickly gains speed while running.

I follow behind him, unsheathing my Gunblades from my back. I look at them for a second and admire their style. A beautiful silver Gunblade with an extremely sharp edge in my right hand and an intimidating, black Gunblade in my left. I went through a lot of trouble to get them but it's most definitely worth it. The Gunblades are the sole reason I eventually became a well-known assassin, no other person on the streets achieve what I did because of these weapons, I owe them everything.

I hear the faint sounds of footsteps close by, and I lean over the edge of one of the trees to see what they're coming from. Soon, I gain sight of them. Soldiers. They're all looking left and right, searching...or scared? I grab Brian's shoulder and we both slowly come to a halt.

"What?" He pants.

"Shh. Look over there, at three o'clock, a patch of fighters. Friend or foe?" I whisper while taking cover from behind one of the trees.

Brian hides with me, keeping his eye on the men. He frowns for a bit. Then shakes his head and comes out of cover.

"Nah, I recognize that uniform. They're some of Velder's troops, most likely waiting for our arrival. Let's go introduce ourselves." He replies while relaxing his expression.

"Very well,"

We make our way through the thick, soft bushes and reach the group of soldiers. They almost immediately spin around to look at us and unsheathe their swords.

"Don't move!" One of them yells firmly. I freeze.

"Jeez, wasn't expecting that..." He whispers, careful not to turn around to look at me.

"State your name and business being here!" He yells again.

Brian says nothing and instead just plays with his moustache. An amused and knowing smile spreading across his face.

"Didn't you hear me? State your-" The same soldier starts to say before pausing."Wait, that moustache...and that katana...I've heard of you! You're a wanted criminal!"

"Criminal? Nah, mate. I'm far from that, besides...should you really call me a criminal? After we came all this way to assist you?" Brian laughs.

"O-oh! You're the ones the captain hired, I see! B-but_ aren't_ you...criminals?"

"Maybe, but since we've been paid to help ya out we're allies for now. You can try to arrest us after we've gotten our pay."

"Very well, we're allies...for now." The soldier warns.

A dark figure pounces from one of the bushes and fires off a pistol, two of the soldiers fall to the ground. It seems like they're no longer running. All of the soldiers, our allies, begin panicking and start waving their weapons around. I simply stand still and watch cloaked figure descend onto us from their cover. One of them points their small pistol at me and fires, the bullet almost grazes my right shoulder but I sidestep fast enough to dodge it. The cloaked man that had fired at me had frozen for a moment, stuck in utter disbelief, before raising the pistol to fire once more.

I decide not to dodge the next bullet and stop it before it shoots, I don't want to tempt fate. I leap forward, just barely leaning to the right as someone from atop the trees throws a dagger at my position, and reach the man with the pistol. My right hand coils around his, twisting it and breaking his wrist, and he drops the gun onto the ground. With his uninjured hand, he attempts to unsheathe a sword behind his back, I cannot allow that to happen. The next thing my right hand wraps itself around is his neck, and it snaps before I even notice.

The anxious soldiers dart towards the now-exposed Crow Mercenary Knights, with more of them leaping out of the trees, almost surrounding our position. Brian quickly readies his katana and curses, getting into a ready stance.

"Didn't think there would be so many of them," Brain whispers worriedly to me, cutting down one of his attackers with his sharp katana in one slice.

These men and women covered in black, sleek robes must be them, the Crow Knights. I hadn't expected them to be so subtle and skilled at hiding their presence. Even if I couldn't see them watching us, Brain, with his immense amount of experience, should have been able to. Either Brian is losing his touch or these people are better than we thought, no wonder the bounty was so high in amount.

Three brave, cloaked fighters rush to me next, and I move like a blur so that they cannot see me properly. I dash to the first one, decapitating him with my right Gunblade, and I deal with the second attacker by forcing my left Gunblade into his stomach. As I pull my weapons away, their ragdoll bodies drop to the floor and the third and final attacker realizes how low his chances of victory are. He gradually steps forward anyway and waves his sword right at him, and I tilt my head to the left in order to dodge it, feeling the edge of the blade fly past my ear. I then point my right Gunblade at him and fire a shot of blue energy, piercing through his chest and getting rid of him too.

Brian is also disposing of his enemies quickly, hacking and slashing away with his katana, watching small slivers of human bodies fly into the air. He's a natural, and certainly someone I do not want to go up against.

Rustle.

It isn't difficult for me to hear that sound emitting from one of the bushes behind me, I spin around with my Gunblades pointed in that direction, anticipating a surprise attack, but I do not receive one. Instead, for just a moment, I catch a glimpse of a young woman with green hair. She glances at me in that instant, fear flashing in her eyes, before bolting.

I cannot properly explain it, but an instinct deep within me tempts me to follow the fleeing woman. I do not even know why, she isn't dressed as one of the Crow Knights, and she hasn't attacked anyone, but I still have the gut feeling. It distracts me, causing one of my attackers to squeeze in a lucky scratch on my forehead. My back hits Brian and I look at him

"Brian! Can you handle things here for me?" I yell to him, shooting down one Crow Knight hiding behind the fallen bark of a tree.

"W-what? Where are you going?" He shouts back while blocking one of the mercenaries' attacks.

_"Can you handle things here?!"_ I repeat, louder this time.

"Fine! But you better explain to me later what's going on here!" He answers, sensing the urgency in my voice.

I then tighten the grip on my Gunblades and dart away from the fight, slashing away at anyone that tries to stop me, and crimson blood drips of the edge of my weapons. Brian can take care of himself, I'm sure of it. I just need to stop that woman, every fibre in my body is telling me to do so.

Squinting my eyes a small bit I see her, still running. I begin the pursuit, staying hot on her heels. Now that I look closer...I see someone running beside her, a fairly tall man donning the same attire as the Crow Knights. He must be trying to escape while the others fight to the death.

The pair suddenly begin to slow down, they must be tired. I change from running to a light jog. Readying my weapon as I get closer. The girl stands in front of the weak, bleeding man. A small knife in her hands, tears rolling down her cheeks. I stand opposite the girl, she's the only person between me and the target. I point my Gunblade at her. To show her I mean business.

"Is that the man named 'Raven' behind you?" I eventually ask in a harsh tone.

The girl looks frightened, horrified and feeble and her legs are clearly shivering. I notice the painful-looking bruises on her knees.

"P-please...let him go..." She begs softly.

"I'm afraid I can't do that,"

"Please...he's done nothing wrong! I beg of you...spare him! You can kill me, just leave him alone!" She cries to me, staring me in the eyes.

"S-Seris..." The injured man gasps, holding his bleeding body.

"Raven...save your energy...you won't die here. I won't let you die." She promises as she looks back at him.

"Stand aside." I snap.

"Never." She answers back.

The man. Raven. He forces himself to his feet and pushes the girl to the side. His eyes filled with pure rage.

"Seris...I can still fight! I'll...kill him...here and now!" He shouts...before falling back to his knees.

I use the sudden advantage to dart over to him and put my Gunblade against his throat. The girl quickly gets up and grabs my arm and starts tugging it desperately.

"No...no...p-please don't kill him! Please...he's innocent...don't kill him!" She yells.

I close my eyes and try to block the voice of the begging girl. I am a professional assassin...taking a life like this...should be nothing to me. For so many years of my work I've heard so many different people beg for their lives or for their lover's life. I have never hesitated. Hesitation is a weakness.

But I cannot find the strength to slice Raven's throat open. I don't have it in me. Looking at that woman, watching the way she begs, it sends a stinging sensation to my heart.

Am I doubting myself?

I stand there frozen like a statue, staring at the muddy ground beneath me. The girl slowly grabs the man's arm and pulls him away. My target, for the first time, is getting away...and I can't do anything about it. I cannot move my body, it refuses to move an inch.

"T-thank you...I'll never forget what you've done...thank you for sparing him..." The girl whispers to me kindly, a relieved look on her.

I say nothing back to her and watch as she takes Raven by the arm and dashes away into the thickness of the forest with him. I listen silently to the frantic footsteps.

The sound of my target getting away.


	6. No 4 (Filler): A Tracer Is Made

**Just a side chapter, call it a teaser... ;)**

**The actual chapter 5 will be released in a day or so. It's nearly here! :D If you have any suggestions, comments or questions please feel free to write it in the review section or PM me, I'll reply as soon as possible!**

**Now then...let's move onto the side-chapter, shall we?**

* * *

The child with hair as white as snow. Trapped in a library, a library with no escape. The young boy sits there, beside one of the hundreds of books in the isolated room. He reaches for it, holds it in his fragile, skinny arms. He flicks excitedly through the pages, reading it's contents, its information. The white-haired boy squeezes the thick book, more...he _must_ know more.

He must reveal every last detail of this pile of information. The secrets it hides deep within its pages...he must know more...more about this race...this chaotic, yet magnificent and elegant race of machines...the Nasod, the ones that took everything away from him.. They hold so many secrets that the world has yet to know. So many books filled with so much content on the Nasod race, falling here...it must have been destiny.

The child skims through the pages some more, memorizing its information. He slams the book shut and chucks it on the floor. It has no use to him now. The boy looks at his ultimate invention, watches it glimmer with life as he commands it so. The mysterious parts of Nasod technology levitate around him, this is it...this must be it...the perfect Nasod weapon. He gets up, straightens his white jacket and stares at the hole in the library he had just made minutes before. Yes, this was it. Finally, after waiting for so long he's _finally _free. He must leave this rotting place and learn more of this interesting race...perhaps...perhaps if he can make his invention even stronger...perhaps he can take back what he lost.

What was rightfully his.

His left eye sparks sinisterly, glowing with its purple light. An insanity filled smile creeps along his once-innocent face.

"Heh, the laws of this world..._**I shall decide them!**__"_


	7. No 5: Breaking Free

**Hello all, its time for chapter 5! Sorry for the slightly late chapter, my schedule has recently gotten a little messed up...but I've pulled through!**

**Also, I would like to thank Erwerer for following and putting this story in their favourites, thanks so much!**

**Now, its finally time to move onto the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy~!**

* * *

"Please...please step down, Father!"

The White Wolf of Hamel steps in front of the Hamel army's, hundreds of brave soldiers stand behind the protector. The Guardian. They wouldn't be able to get this far without the young prince. As long as the White Wolf continued to fight, they would give everything they had to prevent their precious Hamel from falling into the demon's hands. Even...even if their strongest protector had turned against them. The White Colossus stares at the tiny humans standing before him through his heavy armour. This boy, the one with the bright yellow hair and similar armour...somehow this fighter seemed familiar. The boy kept calling him 'Father' and wouldn't back down no matter how many times you would hit him.

"Father, please tell me there is still some part of you left in there..." The White Wolf coughs as the pain from his almost-fatal injures slowly seep in.

The White Colossus continues to stare curiously at the boy. No, he does not know who this child was. Even if he did, he doesn't care anymore. Destroy...he must destroy everything. Everything must fall to his feet, everything must crumble down and turn to dust. The Colossus will refuse to stop fighting until he saw the world..._burn._

The Demonic Colossus stomps his black Destroyer to the floor, the earth shakes, rocks vibrate on the ground. The army have trouble staying on their feet.

"Is...is this...an earthquake?" One of the soldiers asks in fear.

The White Wolf looks anxiously the Colossus' Destroyer and recognizes its charging pattern. A cold, unsettling chill curls down his spine as he realizes what exactly was going to happen next. It's already over, even if they ran now...it wouldn't change anything. He...he simply wasn't strong enough...he couldn't stand up to his father. All these fighters were willing to fight all because they wanted to fight alongside their prince...but the prince had failed. All these soldiers and everything they fought for will be destroyed...the young prince looks at the helpless soldiers then back to the White Colossus. Tears flood uncontrollably in the White Wolf's eyes.

"Please...don't...don't do this, Father. They're your people...you promised to protect them..." He whispers.

The young prince watches a missile from the White Colossus' Destroyer fire up into the sky and quickly descend onto their position. The White Colossus stares at the crying boy.

"Do not call me 'Father'. You are no son of mine." The White Colossus speaks unemotionally to the White Wolf. A satisfying feeling fills him as the young boy's head drops in defeat.

The White Colossus watches as the impact of the missile with the ground causes a large, blue explosion. He listens as the cries of agony burst from the exploding group of fighters. It has been done...the resistance has fallen, the White Wolf of Hamel has been defeated, and Hamel was now...

**...theirs to destroy.**

* * *

"How...how long have I been here...?" I say to myself. After all, I'm the only person to talk to in here.

Seriously though, how long have I been here. I can faintly remember a long time ago, back when I first was trapped here, I would count how many seconds I was in, then turn it into minutes, then into the hours...and so on. It sounds crazy, to do something like that...but since everything looks the same in here...its hard to tell when a day has passed. Or weeks...or months...or years...however now, I have absolutely no idea how long I've been in this prison. How'd I get here, I wonder. A spell gone wrong? Did someone hate me? Or...was I punished...? I can't tell, I can't even remember who I was anymore. Though, I'd like to believe I was a good person. If I did do something wrong and I'm being punished for it...just how long are they planning on trapping me in here? I'm sure this isn't where I was born...I'm sure there's a real world out there. This can't be all there is...can it?

**The chains loosen, weaken as the presence comes closer. The endless, dark room is getting closer to that place...that world.**

These chains...they don't feel as weak as before...don't tell me...is...has...has the time finally come...?!

Please...please say it is so...! I've been charging my inner energy for so long...please tell me it's finally going to work!

Yes...yes I can feel it...the chains are quickly fading...this is it. I can sense it...vaguely...I can sense another world...my world...it must be!

I use every last ounce of inner energy inside me and try to reach out to the new world...the chains disappear and I float towards the portal that's slowly forming...tch...my skin...my skin is tingling...and now its burning! I must...I must keep moving...must get closer to the portal! I don't care about the degree of pain I'm feeling...I must get out of this place!

Everything becomes white, I feel as though I'm flying in the air...

* * *

**_The fair and tall Demon Lord's body fails to endure the intensity of the amount of magic being used. Her body begins to glow and shrink, turning into the body of a child. The portal uses the given magic to reach the new world and create a tunnel leading to it. It grabs the girl and fires her to the other side of the portal. The helpless, defenceless girl exits the shining portal and lands on the muddy, wet ground. A nearby man almost jumps at what he just witnessed. He cautiously walks over to the unconscious girl, looks at her and picks her up._**

_"H-hey...are you okay?" The young man says worriedly to the girl._

_Rain pours down on the two of them. This was fate...these two people to meet. A betrayed, weaken Demon Lord and an assassin who kills to make a living. The future of these two fighters...it might be filled with pain and hardships...but it is they who will determine the fate of this world. Be saved? Or burned and crushed...?_

_The Duo have finally met, just as destiny chose so._


	8. No 6: Regaining Lost Memories

**Hey guys, how are you all doing? Hope you all are having a good time as I am! Before this chapter begins I would like to give a special thanks to KnightSpark, MultiLevelsofMusic, and whitemist0 for putting this story in their favourites and following. Thank you SO much! :D**

**Also, a little note for those reading this series: As I said earlier this story will take turns between Ciel's point of view and Luciela's point of view ****_however_**** for now small parts of the story will be from other character's POV as well. Just a reminder so you don't get confused.**

**And feedback is always welcome!**

**Now, time for the next chapter~!**

* * *

Raven...

Raven ran away with his loved one as much as he could. Even with all his wounds he had gained from his torture in his cell...he continued to run.

Seris holding tightly onto his hand, she would do anything for him and Raven knew that. Even if he tried to convince her to leave him and to escape by herself she would never listen. She loved him with all her heart, and Raven felt the same way. They had made their way with their companions into a nearby forest, the loyal mercenaries decided to stay behind and spring a trap to kill off any guards chasing them...while Raven and Series continued to run away.

They had almost gotten out of the forest...until **he **appeared. An assassin, one of those people who would do anything for a bit of money...the worst kind of people. He wanted to get rid of the assassin, he wanted to help Seris with his own escape somehow...but he was useless. The assassin had come close to taking his life, his strange-looking blade on Raven's throat...but...Seris...Seris talked to him. Begged him. For whatever reason the assassin listened and spared him, Raven couldn't understand why. He was supposed to die by that assassin's hand...yet he didn't. They had ran so far, they reached the end of the forest...but **they** arrived.

The soldiers. They were ruthless, violent. They attacked Raven and Series both. Raven was just barely able to hold his own...but Seris didn't stand a chance. She wasn't a fighter. The soldiers left the dead, green-haired girl and the nearly-dead Raven.

After he had collapsed and didn't move they presumed him to be dead...and while he wasn't...he soon would be. He lies beside the dead girl's body...cursing everything in this world. Revenge...he wanted it so badly...he wanted to have his revenge for his loss...but...he also knew that wasn't going to happen. He was going to die very soon.

'I'm sorry, Seris...I...I can't avenge you...since I shall...share the same fate...' He thinks to himself.

It no longer hurts...he's going now. Seris...he watches as everything fades, he would be with her soon...on the other side.

_**No, not yet. You are not going to die just yet...Raven. Not while I still have use for you.**_

_'Who...who...is...that...?' The Taker gasps weakly in his mind as faint memories and mixed emotions buzz through his head._

A grey figure stands above him, his face covered. Who is this person...?

_**Tell me. Do you think this is justice? Do you think that this is right?**_

"...No." Raven whispers.

_**Do you want to have your revenge, no matter what it takes?**_

"..Yes...I want to...make them...pay with their lives..."

_**Promise me. Promise to me here and now that if I give you the strength for your revenge; you'll fight to very end with it.**_

"I...I promise."

**_...Good._**

* * *

I lay the strangely-dressed girl onto my bed and put her under the blankets. Look at her, she's just fast asleep. She's probably someone's child in this village. It's a small village...but I'm sure at least one person will be able to tell me who she is and who to return her to. Why was she out in the rain...? Especially on a night like this. It's absolutely pouring, I haven't seen this type of heavy rain in a while. This place, my place...it's only just a tiny, little hut in the middle of nowhere. It would be problematic if this hut doesn't hold, until I return this girl to her parents...she's my responsibility. I can't help but look at her a bit more as I carefully sit on the bed with her, she must be around ten or something. Her guardians must be worried about her...also...while I've seen kids before...this girl..is really cute! Seriously, she's adorable! Ack...! What am I saying?

I slowly get off the bed and sit on the wooden chair beside the window. I rest my chin on my arm and stare out the rain outside. I've really dug my own grave now, huh? I still can't believe...what happened today. I haven't hesitated to kill in such a long time...I wonder if my target made it out alive...? Brian is most likely dead. My fault, I shouldn't have left him in that ambush by himself...and now that I've failed..._they'll_ be coming after me. I need to be ready.

_Yawn_.

Ah...I'm so tired after a rough day like this. Perhaps I'll just nap in this chair for a bit...tomorrow...tomorrow I'll...take this child...and return her to her parents...yeah...that's what I'll...do...

And just like that, I doze off_._

* * *

**_I'm sorry, Master. I've gone against your orders. For the very first time I've made my own choice. The man named 'Raven'...I already have him going down the path I want. And now...this man...I can definitely use him as a pawn in the things to come too..._**

* * *

Tumbling into darkness...I'm falling further into darkness. Is this a nightmare I wonder...? Did that portal I made take me to another world? This nightmare...this nightmare of falling...I want it to stop...

**"**I can imagine it now, being the Overlord. The entire Demon Realm under my command, previous Overlords were idiots, fools. They didn't know how to properly make use of their title. I'll be different. I shall make a change**."**

What...that voice...its mine...did I...

Did I say that...?

* * *

My eyes finally open, a kind, soft smile greets me as I awake.

"Morning, kid. You're finally awake." He says gently.

I eye him curiously and suspiciously. Who is this man...? What does he want with me...?

"Hey...tell me. What's your name?" He asks.

My name...? I can't remember...I'm sure I have a name...I can't be nameless...I might...might be able to remember...L...Lu...Lu? I...I think...that's how it starts...maybe...

I look at him, slightly intimated by his height. I push a small part of my hair away from my eyes...after all this time...I have someone to talk to.

"...L-Lu. My name is...Lu."


	9. No 7: A Reborn Lord

**Hey all, time for chapter 7! This one took me slightly longer than expected, but its finally done. Couldn't have done it without your support! C:**

**I would like to give a big shout out to Kinok for following, thank you so much! :D**

**Feedback is always welcome!**

**Now, shall we move onto the next chapter~?**

* * *

Brother...

Aren...why are you doing this...?

At this rate, you and those demons shall completely destroy Fahrmann...our home!

Just what happened? Why did you suddenly become one of them...? The ones we are sworn to fight against for the sake of our Moon Stone...how could you forget your duty so easily...? Training so intensely everyday, ever since you were little, to become the Defence Captain of Fahrmann's capital...did all of that mean nothing to you?

He kicks me in the stomach, I try to block it with my spear but fail, I fall back-first onto the floor. The cold, hard floor. What is this room I've collapsed into...? I've never been to this room before. To my side I see a cracked, dusty hairpin...those patterns on it...I'm sure I've seen it before.

Aren...he strides towards me. An bored, uninterested expression on him. He doesn't care for this fight, he doesn't even that the person he's trying to kill is his own sister.

"Aren!" I cough.

He walks a little closer before stopping.

"How many more times are you going to call me by that name?" He whispers.

"What...happened to you...Aren? Why are you doing this?"

He emits a small shockwave from his body, I smack against a wall. Even when I'm down...he's hurting me so much...

"Shut up. Stop acting like we know each other, its extremely irritating. This place has already succumbed to our forces. Fahrmann and its people are dead. All that's left is you.

"N-no..." I speak in disbelief.

They're...they're all dead...? All of them...? I'm...the only one left...

"Stay in denial if you want to, it doesn't matter. You won't be in this world for much longer." He smiles.

"You're...you're going to kill me?"

"Yes...I could have just easily let one of my forces kill you quickly...but since I've decided to become someone new...I must destroy everything from my past life with my own hands. That's why...you shall die by me."

No...no...Aren...how could you...? Not only are you going to take the Moon Stone away from this city...but you're going to kill me too? You're...not the Aren Haan...that I know and love. Even if you kill me, I cannot allow you to take that stone away.

"...Oh...? Is that so? Then perhaps you'll want some extra help?" A voice whispers in my head.

What...who just spoke to me?

"That doesn't matter right now, your older brother is about to kill you, you know. I can help, of course." The voice speaks again.

I look at Aren as he unsheathes his black sword. He's going to end me...without hesitation...though...it seems he hasn't heard the voice just now...

"Hey...you know he's going to kill you any second now...right?" The voice questions.

Okay...I understand...I don't know who you are...but I do need help. I can't let Aren do this.

"Good. Then grab that hairpin."

The hairpin...why...?

"This isn't the time for questions...do it now!" It shouts at me as Aren strikes down his black, aura-covered sword.

I have no choice...I have to trust the voice...!

I do as the voice requested, reach for the hairpin and hold it tight. At the same instant everything glows white...I can feel my body getting stronger...it stands up and blocks Aren's attack easily. It gets into a confident, ready position for counterattacking...this is so...strange...I have no control over anything happening...why...? How have I recovered so quickly...and why is my body moving on its own...?

"W-what...?" He says to himself, startled.

My head turns to Aren and smiles by itself. My mouth...its moving...how is it moving...?

"Be honest-

A different voice, from my mouth, says smugly to Aren. I involuntarily brush my now-white hair and curl it behind my ears.

"-you've been waiting for this kind of fight...haven't you?" The voice finishes.

* * *

**_Yes. He's getting even stronger. Wonderful. Everything is going exactly as I predicted. The uncontrollable child with white hair...he has already escaped from his prison. I knew he could do it. Yes...keep going down your path, young one. Your ultimate rise to power shall soon happen..._**

* * *

"Amnesia...?"

The tall, young man with short hair looks at me. I cannot tell if he seems worried or confused about me. He's fiddling with the side of his sleek, black jacket...fiddling with something when in deep thought...that seems...somehow...familiar...

"Yes. That's what I think...I can't recall anything that happened before waking up here." I reply.

"You seem to be taking this very easily..."

"Worrying frantically won't solve anything, right?" I shrug.

"Heh...you're definitely more mature than most children your age." He smiles.

I look him in the eyes. His stare, his hard expression. Its unsettling...but at some moments..when he smiles to me... showing a bit of emotion...I think I like those moments...

"I must admit though, you are absolutely adorable..." He says, looking slightly dazed.

"Hm?"

His eyes widen. He quickly scratches his head and turns his head away.

"Err...sorry...didn't know what I was saying...p-please ignore whatever I just said!"

"S-sure..." I say slowly.

'Adorable'...? I'm adorable? He had barely showed much emotion until he said that I was adorable...perhaps...he has a weakness to cute things.

I look down at myself. I'm wearing a small, simple white dress. My hands and feet are so small...so fragile...for some reason...it doesn't feel right. I pat my head feel the top of it...strange...I feel as though something should be there...on my head.

"Is there...anything you can remember? Anything at all?" He asks once his face is no longer red.

I close my eyes and search through my thoughts...somewhere...my memories are there...far yet close...I...I can't reach them properly.

"Chains." I say eventually.

The man tilts his head and gives me an unsure face.

"...Chains?" He repeats.

"Yes...I remember chains...a lot of them..."

"Is that all you remember...?"

"Yes."

He strokes and plays with his hair.

"That's no good. You should remember more than that. We need to find your family." He says to me.

Family...? A family...do I have one...I'm not sure...

A family...people you're close around...people you've known for a long time. People that genuinely care for you...people that take care of you when you're sick...people that are always by your side...no matter what...a family...please tell me I have one...I want one so bad...

I hardly notice the tears in my eyes, I try to blink them away but fail...they roll down my face...the man...he frowns. He's now upset too. I rub my cheeks to try to dry my face of my tears.

"A family...I want one..." I whimper...

My small tears down into proper ones, I begin to wail...I dig my face into the blanket on me and let out my tears...it feels like its been forever since I've cried. It feels like something I've been holding back for so long...

What...

What is this...warm feeling around me...?

The man...his arms are around me. His warmth comforting me...I can't help but hug him back. I bury my head into his chest and cry some more...I can't control my emotions any longer...a family...I'll do _anything_ for something like that...

"...Its going to okay. We'll find your family, you'll get your memories back...I'll...I'll fix all of this." He whispers while softly brushing my hair with his big hand.

"You...you promise?"

He breaks our hug and stares at me. A certain, confident look on his face.

"I promise." He tells me.

Suddenly I no longer feel like crying...I don't know why...but he makes me feel like everything will turn out alright. We'll find my family. I'll be reunited with them...everything will be alright.

"Sorry for being such a burden to you. Losing my memories...bothering you by staying at your place..." I apologize.

He waves his hand dismissively.

"Don't mention it. Kids in this village are messing around and getting lost everyday. Its nothing new." He says blankly.

Eh...? His hard, cold expression is back...hm...it was nice while it lasted, I suppose.

"So we'll go around the village and search for my family tomorrow?" I ask.

"That's the plan."

"Oh...! I forgot to ask..." I suddenly say to myself.

"What?"

"Um...well...I never asked your name since I woke up..." I say, lowering my head.

How could I be so stupid...? He's giving me shelter and everything and I didn't ask his name...

I look up at him, greeted with his rare smile again. He pats my head.

"Call me...Ciel." He sighs coolly.

* * *

_**I see...so they have already met now. That was sooner than I anticipated...no...its no problem...I've already seen what happens to the two of them. They'll be dead in the next few days...looking for a family...so the Demon Lord has lost her memories of before...interesting...you know what? I think I'll watch what'll happen next to them for a while. This could be...entertaining... **_


	10. No 8: Hamel's White Wolf

**Hey everyone! How are you all? Time for a new chapter~! Already 9 followers? No way! :D Thank you all for reading and your support!**

**Special thanks to Obsucuria and Dark White Fang for following and putting this in their favourites, you guys are the best!**

**Feedback is always welcome! C:**

* * *

Hamel...look...look at what it has become...

The broken down, crushed prince crawls desperately across the cracked ground.

Bodies everywhere, rocks scattered around in a mess. Buildings tumbling and breaking down. Broken-off pieces of the Prince's armour lying on the floor. The White Wolf closes his eyes...and wishes that this is all a nightmare...but its not. This is reality.

The Prince doesn't blame his Father for this; he understands the White Colossus' actions. It wasn't his Father spreading chaos among this kingdom...it was the demons. They had taken his Father over. The White Colossus' mind was no longer in control. He was now a puppet to the demons, a puppet they would use to bring Elrios to its knees. The White Wolf understood his...he had tried to change that fact...he tried to bring his Father's mind back...

* * *

_**Keh...what a foolish goal...**_

* * *

However the White Colossus could not recognize his son. The Prince failed at bringing his father's emotions back. The demons controlling his father convinced him the his son meant nothing to him.

The Prince of Hamel grimaces while crawling across the ground. His wounds are too great.

The White Wolf curses himself and understands how futile his actions were. The least he could do was stop his father, protect the people of Hamel...but he failed. He simply wasn't strong enough. The White Colossus had no trouble defeating the White Wolf whatsoever. No matter what the White Wolf would dish out his father would shrug it off like it was nothing...the White Wolf was nothing more than an insect to him.

The Prince was a Guardian. A Guardian trained his entire life to be strong enough to protect his people...and he was too weak.

He doesn't want to be alive anymore. He wanted that attack his father had done to end him. The people fighting alongside him were all dead...so why wasn't he...?

"Looks like one of them is still moving!" A faint girl's voice cries.

'Who...who is shouting...?' The Guardian wonders as he lays on the floor...waiting for his life to end.

"Woah...his armour. Its all smashed and cracked!" A worried boy's voice says.

"He's still alive! That's amazing, didn't he get hit with that explosion we saw?" Another girl asks.

The Prince opens his eyes slowly and vaguely sees three people standing next to him. They're bending over, analysing him as he lies there. The Prince tries to say something to them but the words don't form...he can't even speak...

"S-should I...poke him?" The red-haired boy questions to his friends.

"Don't you dare, you idiot!" A girl with a weird-looking staff shouts to him, flustered.

Who are these people...?

The boy kneels over, grabs the White Wolf's hand and begins to lift him.

"No need to worry now; you're safe now." The boy tells the Prince reassuringly.

It...it seems the White Wolf isn't about to die yet...this must be destiny. The Prince realizes now that what he was thinking before was wrong. He shouldn't die here...he can't die here. He's the White Wolf and the man causing havoc is his father. It's up to him to stop the White Colossus...no matter the cost. He'll get stronger...and one day he shall save his father...as The Prin-...no...as Chung...the Guardian.

* * *

**_...You have disobeyed my orders. Explain yourself._**

**_Forgive me, Master. I understand that you'd be upset...however what I did shall benefit your goal. Please understand._**

**_No. What you have done shall not benefit me in the slightest. I already have chosen that boy...the one with white hair. Yet you are watching over that man from Velder...that man named Raven. That does not help me._**

**_Please, Master. Raven will become stronger...I'm sure of it. I did this as...he'd be a good challenge for our chosen one._**

**_...You...have set a challenge for the I have chosen...?_**

**_Yes, Master. Raven shall be a worthy opponent when the time comes. Trust me, I've never been wrong before._**

**_Well...I suppose you're right...I guess I do want to see the one I have chosen in a good fight...but...do you truly believe that Raven will give our chosen one a good fight?_**

_The servant grins secretly._

**_Oh. Don't you worry, Master. He will._**


	11. No 9: Going On a Hunt

**Hello everyone, glad to say I'm back once again! How are you all? Its time for chapter 9! C:**

**Feedback is ALWAYS welcome!**

**I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading~!**

* * *

"You...you brought a kid in here?!"

The short man with scars everywhere on his face stands behind his desk. His hands clenched into angry fists, his face red with rage. Brian and I face the man. Its...its hard hiding my fear, I try my best but fail. I'm very clearly scared.

"What the hell are you thinking?! Do you realize what you've done? You've brought a child with you!" He yells at Brian, his entire body shaking.

I turn and look up at Brian, unlike me his face is completely calm. He watches with a chilled face as his boss rants on and on about his errors. His cool, uncaring expression...it might be cold but it's effective. The boss' voice slowly decreases as he stares at Brian's relaxed face, though the boss is still very mad.

"You're probably wondering why I've done this." Brian speaks in a causal tone.

"You're damn right! This is our hideout for crying out loud! What suddenly makes you think you just casually stroll in here with a kid?!" He shrieks.

"Calm down, boss. Let me explain." Brian replies reassuringly.

The boss smacks his fist onto his desk, making a really loud, terrifying sound.

"Just how exactly can you explain something like this?! How old is kid you've brought anyway? Seven? Eight?!" He shouts before Brian can speak further.

"He's nine." Brian corrects him.

"That was a rhetorical question, you dumbass! I'm saying you've brought a child into a place he most definitely shouldn't be in!"

Brian steps back a bit and lets out a large sigh. He plays with his beard and looks at the boss again.

"The kid's parents are dead." He tells the boss sharply.

The boss doesn't react or even blink.

"Is that supposed to make me feel sympathy, Brian?" He hisses.

"What I mean to say is; the poor kid's got no place to go to. Can I really leave a helpless, hungry, cold and weak child out on those streets we fought to get away from?"

The boss' expression softens slightly, he turns his head to me. I look back at him and give my best 'sad-face' like Brian had instructed me to earlier. His face shows that he's still annoyed though.

"So we keep him in one of our dorms? Give him a free, warm bed and food? We're not running a charity, Brian. We need to save up our profits, we're just barely getting by with our funds. We can't afford him." He informs Brian.

"I'm not saying he's staying here for free..." Brian whispers.

The boss looks utterly confused...for about three seconds. His face becomes red again, he shakes his head in disbelief.

"Damn it, Brian...don't tell me you're planning on making him a..." He groans.

"Yup. I'll turn him into an assassin. It'll take a while, of course. What with his skinny figure and shy personality...but give me one year, just one, and I'll make him one of the best assassin's out there." Brian smiles.

"You're insane..." The boss whispers.

"Please, boss. Just one year. If I can't make an assassin out of him by then...by all rights you can take my life. No questions asked." Brian begs.

"Why? Why go so far for this random kid off the streets?"

Brian lowers his head and tips his white hat in front of his face.

"He...reminds me of someone. An old friend. I can't just leave him out there by himself." He says softly.

Brian...

The boss lets out an exaggerated sigh. He glares at both of us and makes his decision.

"Fine. One year. No more."

"Thanks, boss." Brian says, relieved.

"But...on one condition." The boss continues.

"And what would that be, boss?"

"He'll be no exception to our rule." The boss finishes.

"That's your condition? Done deal, boss."

What? What rule? What are they talking about...? I stare at Brian, dumbfounded. He notices and grins.

"The rule is...if you fail at eliminating a given target...the rest of the assassins shall be sent at some point to kill you. We don't except slip-ups here."

The boss shoots a glare at me.

"Do you agree to this rule?" He asks.

I take in a deep breath.

"Yes."

* * *

**_I see...so Raven has already gotten used to using the weapon I've given him. Good. Just look at him now...he's handling the weapon like a natural pro. That's right, Raven. Keep getting stronger. We can't have a weak, unworthy fighter take down the Master's chosen one..._**

* * *

"I'm tired..." Lu groans.

We walk through the village's streets, greeted by the sweet smell of baked goods. The weather is absolutely perfect; not too hot and not too cool. The kid's run around, playing 'Tag'. Laughing, giggling with excitement as they run around having fun. What amazing childhood memories they'll all make...I wonder what something like that would be like.

"Stop moaning, Lu. We've still got half of the village to go. There is no time to rest." I tell her as she sulks.

She continues to sulk as we keep moving forward. Her head quickly turns to a nearby food stand. I sigh...she's clearly drooling. That's just disturbing.

"Stay focused, Lu." I say as I pat her little, cute head.

She turns to me, wipes off her drool and stares at me with her huge, adorable eyes.

"Please, Ciel. Lets rest...just a little bit. My knees hurt..." She whispers.

D-damn it...how can I say no to that face? Her deep, blue eyes are staring right through me. We're supposed to be looking for her family or anyone that recognizes her...yet, we've only gone through around half of this place. I should press further, tell her she's being silly...but I can't. I can't say no to someone like her. I look at one of the nearest taverns and point to it.

"Fine. See that old, wooden building over there? There's a couple of seats there that you can rest on. I'll talk to the owner of the place and see if anyone's been looking for a lost child. He usually knows everything that goes on in this village." I tell her.

She smiles and nods.

"Got it!" She says adorably.

_This...this energy! I've felt this type of energy before...it can't be...can it? Yes, this energy. Its definitely hers. No doubt about it. Yes...so you've finally reappeared...Luciela R. Sourcream!_

"People looking for a lost kid? Sorry, mate. Haven't heard anything like that. Then again, most people in this place have gone out for a few days on business trips." The bartender says to me.

"Ah, I see. So you're saying I should wait a couple of days?" I ask him while leaning across tavern's serving-table.

"That would be a smart idea." He nods.

"Right..." I whisper in deep thought.

"So...you gonna order anything, mate?" The bartender asks while wiping clean one of the used glasses.

"Y-yeah...give me a cup of the usual." I reply.

I look across the place. Lu sits quietly on one of the wooden chairs at the back of the tavern, staring innocently at the strange people around her. One of the men on another table gets up and wanders over to Lu's table. A dangerous look in his eyes. Shit, I was hoping this wouldn't happen.

"Here's your drink." The bartender says.

"Not now." I hiss back at him.

The man leans over Lu's table and gives a suggestive grin.

"Hey there, cutie. You come here alone?" He laughs.

"Err..." Lu hesitates, confused over what was happening.

I grab my drink and walk over to the man, I put on hand on his shoulder and force him the other way around. He faces me.

"No, she didn't. She came with me." I tell him.

The man smiles.

"Eh...with a weakling like you?" He says smugly.

He turns back to Lu.

"How about sticking around with a real man?" He asks Lu.

"I'm warning you. Piss off." I whisper to him, sharply.

The man laughs and doesn't turn back around to me. He keeps staring at the completely confused Lu with his disgusting, lustful eyes. He leans even closer over the table, his breath filled with the disturbing smell of alcohol. Don't do it. Just don't do it. I'm not in the mood for this. Don't touch her. We don't have to do this.

He reaches his arm out and strokes Lu's cheek. That's that. I'm ending it here. I clench his shoulder, hard. I spin him around, rougher this time.

"Eh...still going at it? This girl is mine now, so go somewhere el-" He begins to ramble.

I swing my hand with the glass in it and smash it into his eye. Everyone sitting down suddenly stand up, slowly backing away. The perverted man screams in pain as he tries to get the glass shards out of his eyes. Lu doesn't do anything, she just watches everything unfold wordlessly.

"You...you little piece of shit! _I'll kill you!_" He shrieks as he jumps forward, throwing a flimsy punch my way.

I dodge it effortlessly, pathetic. Just what kind of sad excuse of a punch was that...? I leap towards him, grab the back of his head, lift my knee and shoot it forward into his disgusting face. Blood spurts out of his nose as my leg connects with it. He flies back, crashes onto the floor and doesn't get back up. Filthy people like you, no one needs them.

The crowd of people witnessing what just happened begin whispering among each other. Glaring at me like I'm a monster. Doesn't bother me, do what you want. Just keep your hands off Lu. I walk over to one of the tables with a tissue box on it, pull out one and clean up the blood stain on my trousers. I make my way to the door. Lu hops off the chair, walks around the perverted man as he lays on the ground and smiles calmly at me.

"Time to go?" She asks me cheerfully.

I nod as I open the door.

"W-wait! What about the drink? Y-you didn't pay..." The bartender wails.

I look at him.

"Put it on my tab." I tell him as I slam the door closed behind me.

* * *

"So that's where you are! What are you doing in a tiny, useless place like that? And who is this man accompanying you...? Nah, I don't need to over think it. The man will be no problem to kill...as for you Luciela R. Sourcream. I'll kill you too, but I'll make it a slow death. I'll enjoy every second of it. Hehe...I hope you're ready. I'm coming over to finish what I started!" The Succubus giggles happily in delight as she stares at the vision of the little girl wandering aimlessly with her new friend.


	12. No 10: A Bloody Slaughter

**Hey everyone! Time for chapter 10, wouldn't you agree? This is from the Tracer's POV as the title says. Why? Well...lets just say he's a very important character to the story. While the story shall continuously switch between Lu and Ciel as planned some chapters shall have a neutral POV and sometimes from Add's POV, though mostly it'll be from the Duo's point of view. Please tell me what you think, feedback is ALWAYS welcome! :D Thanks for reading~!**

* * *

"Energy Boom!" A crazed voice cackles as an electrical bullet fires forward towards its target.

The ridiculously large man falls back, his hand on his broken left arm. He drops his wooden sword and stares in pain at the smiling boy. The boy laughs uncontrollably, how amusing! This fool honestly thought he stood a chance...just how idiotic can you be? The boy thinks for a second. Should he kill this foolish little bandit or play around with him for a little longer? The Nasod Dynamos hover by the boy's side. The boy folds his arms and eventually nods his head. Nah, he has had his fun. It is obvious the bandit could no longer entertain the boy with his struggling. The boy shoves his hands into his pockets and grins sinisterly as the Nasod Dynamos begin to circle each other; collecting power.

"Keh, its time to end this. It was most definitely fun while it lasted but its about time I blow you to bits!" He shrieks with excitement.

The bandit...'Banthus'. He finally realizes that he is no match for the boy. The bandit understands now that his kid wasn't just any weakling. The only option...the last option left was to use his emergency backup.

He didn't want to. He didn't think he'd need to use it, but this creepy kid was something else...something inhuman. Banthus bends down and picks up his fallen sword, or whatever is left of it, and throws a red crystal to the ground.

The Tracer looks confused. He glares at the annoying bandit.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but it'll take a lot more than that to defeat the mighty Banthus!" He announces with pride.

The smashed pieces of the strange crystal begins to glow and warp into a different form. Out of nowhere a giant Phoru appears, stares at the white-haired boy and howls viciously to the sky. It gets ready to engage the boy, the boy's smile slowly becomes even bigger. Yes, this is wonderful. Something else to kill. Perhaps, if he has time, he'll research the giant Phoru's dead corpse once he's done!

The bandit Banthus dashes away, making his cowardly escape. No need to worry, he'll catch up with that bandit and deal with him later...as for now...

The boy looks up at the colossal, red Phoru.

"I'll kill you all, you absolutely pathetic Phorus! Particle Shot!" He laughs as he watches the Phoru scream in agony.

* * *

_**More, my dear child. Destroy even more...this isn't enough. You must keep walking your path, crush and kill anything that comes in your way. Kill anything that bothers you. Do not show mercy, a thing like mercy is a pathetic thing to you. Keep destroying. Keep killing. This is it. Your time is now, Add...**_

* * *

Raven.

That's my name.

I was known as the Captain of the Crow Mercenary Knights. It was a title I cared much for, it meant a lot to me. I was a fellow commoner from Velder who rejected the idea of nobles and aristocrats. Since I was a commoner with a good rank I caused jealously among the nobles of Velder. That didn't worry me, I personally didn't expect them to do anything about it...but I was completely wrong. Out of all the nobles my close and old friend Alex soon framed me for treason. They made everyone believe I wanted to destroy their kingdom. The kingdom I cared so much about. They threw me into a cell, starved me, tortured me...anything they could think of to break me down, little by little.

And in the end...they tried to kill me. To get rid of me.

Well now, its time to return the favour.

"Sir...everything is as you commanded. The airship's cannons are all loaded and ready to fire at any time!" A loyal Black Crow Engineer salutes to his Captain.

Raven glares over the side of the airship, loathing the kingdom under them. The kingdom of Velder. He turns around and points to the Engineer with his new left arm.

"Fire everything we have. Lay waste to all of it."


	13. No 11: An Old Enemy

**Hey all you wonderful people! C: How are you doing? It's about time for chapter 11~! I've been slightly busy since some unforeseen circumstances but it has all been taken care of!**

**Also, I'd like to give a special thanks to xXBlackAppleXx for putting this story in his/her favourites and following! Thank you so much for your support! C:**

**Now, let's move onto the next chapter~!**

* * *

"So, what was that all about?" I ask Ciel, curious of what happened before.

We wander out of the tavern, walking around aimlessly. Ciel's hands are in his black jacket's pockets, an irritated look on him. He keeps turning his head left and right...as though he's looking for something nearby. I reach and tug on his sleeve, he's not listening to a word I say.

"Ciel..." I call as I continue to tug on his sleeve.

Ciel's blinks and shakes his head. He looks down at me and sighs.

"Oh, sorry. I was just daydreaming. What's up?" He smiles kindly as he fiddles with a strand of his hair.

"I said: what happened in that place earlier? That weird man...he said strange things to me and he smelled _really _bad."

"Sorry, Lu. That was my fault. There are disgusting, useless people like him everywhere. I should've been more careful of where to take you. I'll be more cautious from now on."

I give him a short giggle. What is he apologizing for? That weird man didn't do anything serious to me, though...seeing Ciel leap out of nowhere and protect me like that. It was...flattering...

We travelled around the small village some more, I tried to start a conversation with Ciel multiple times. I want to know more about him, all I really know is his name! Yet, every time he would cut the chat short. He'd try his best to stop our talk. As though there was something he didn't want to talk about, he even told me to be quiet and keep walking when I asked him what he does for a living. This man, the one taking care of me until I gain my memories...he's quite the mystery now that I think about it...but, for whatever reason...it makes me want to know more about him even more.

We knock on a couple more doors, sweet and gentle people open up and ask how Ciel is doing. Everyone in this village knows him personally for some reason. Ciel would always say: 'I'm doing fine, this young girl's name is Lu. She's having troubles with her memory and is lost, does she look familiar to you?'

But every time...they would shake their heads. They would say they've never seen me before and repeatedly say sorry. Ciel would give a smile and say that it is fine. We'd walk away from the house's porch and move onto the next one...Ciel...he'd always have his smile when the people apologized about not being able to help...but I knew very well it was a fake smile. The whole time something was bothering him, eating away at him. It was obvious. He was beside me, helping me search for my family...but at the same time it didn't really feel like he was completely there...

Another family. They tell us they have no idea who I am. We walk away. We're getting nowhere...I was found lying on the floor in this village yet no one seems to recognize me, just who am I...?

"Lu, we're heading to the far-west side of the village." Ciel suddenly tell me.

"W-why?"

His shoulders sag and he shows a guilty-looking expression.

"I need to talk to the son of an old friend." He answers.

* * *

_"_Assemble, my dear servants. We have located Luciela R. Sourcream!" The Succubus giggles.

"So what's the plan?"

"What do you think? You idiot...we do this the fun way!"

"Which is...?"

"We storm straight through the entrance, destroy everything in that sad, little village."

"And what exactly will that achieve?"

"Think about it. If we cause enough chaos the Demon Lord will definitely be lured out...and we kill her. We give her a slow, delicious death. Mission accomplished!" The Succubus announces to her fellow demons.

"I see."

"...And we'll have a hell of a time slaughtering some pathetic humans while we're at it, won't we?" She asks.

"Yes, we will." The demon agrees.

* * *

Children cheer as we pass by. The small kids, around my height, wave their hands and cheer out Ciel's name. How strange, why do all these people know Ciel?

"Those kids, they never give me a break." Ciel sighs as he effortlessly waves back at them.

"Everyone in this village, except the people at the tavern, really seem to like you, Ciel!" I remark as I grin happily.

"Yeah...well...I sort of helped them out a while ago." He whispers as he scratches the back of his head.

"Helped them out?" I repeat as a question.

"Around seven months ago this place was attacked and raided by a group of bandits. I...err...happened to be in the area at the time. I took the captain out and the rest fled." He explains to me.

"So they feel gratitude towards you?"

"You can say that, yeah. That's how I got that small hut I'm staying at. I can't actually afford a place for myself."

I really want to ask why he doesn't have a good job but I already tried that once and it didn't go well...he doesn't want to talk about his work. It bugs me.

We reach an ancient-looking cabin. It looks abandoned, cobwebs scattered and spread all across its walls. The paint is a dark, muddy brown colour. It is not something you really want to look at. Just who does Ciel want to meet here?

He signals to me to stop walking, he walks up to the door and knocks five times on it...in some weird pattern.

"...What is the only weapon that can cut down the waves of hatred?" A fragile, soft voice from the inside of the cabin asks.

"Do I really have to give the password...?" Ciel replies.

The voice stays silent. Ciel sighs heavily.

"The Katana of Hope." He says.

The door immediately swings open, revealing a preteen with freckles inside. He leaps out and hugs Ciel. Ciel sighs again, harder this time, and tries to push the boy off. So this is the son of Ciel's old friend. We were still searching for anyone who might know me but Ciel seemed to really want to see this kid. Perhaps this was what was bothering him all this time.

"Uncle Ciel!" The kid laughs.

"Kouji...how many times have I told you not to call me by that name?" Ciel groans.

I can't help but giggle a little, this is kinda cute...

Kouji gives a cheeky grin.

"Dad told me to keep calling you that no matter what you say, Uncle Ciel! He says it secretly makes you happy!"

"It doesn't." Ciel retorts.

"Suuuure~!" Kouji says sarcastically.

The two continue to chat, I smile and watch them both. Ciel always tries to act so tough and emotionless but he has weaknesses and shows the real him every now and then. The sweet, caring man that he is deep down inside...

"So where is Dad? He said he was going on another regular business trip with a colleague but...those usually take just a day. I wonder why he isn't back yet..." Kouji asks innocently.

Ciel's face completely changes. He takes a sudden step back, startling both Kouji and I. He turns away from Kouji and doesn't look at him as he speaks.

"So...Brian isn't back yet?" He whispers.

"Yeah, he's probably crashed one of his motorcycles again. I was wondering if he'd told you anything." Kouji says casually.

"N-no. He hasn't said anything to me."

"Ah, okay..."

Ciel folds his arms and stares at the ground. Something isn't right.

* * *

_**"You...you shut your mouth! You don't know anything! You don't know how long I've waited for this! How many hardships I've come across on my path! You're wrong! I...I...I'll...I'll kill you both!"**_

* * *

I fall to my knees. All my energy's faded from me...so fast...my body feels so weak. What is this voice...it sounds like mine...I said that...?

"L-Lu?" Ciel shouts, worried as I wobble and fall to the ground. Motionless. My body refuses to move.

A building close by crumbles and crashes to the ground, the frantic voices of the villagers fill my ears. Destruction begins to fly across the village. Parents with their children…running and screaming through the chaos, trying to escape the blazing fire crawling and slithering through and around their houses.

"Hahaha! We're _finally_ here!" A sadistic voice howls in laughter.

I try to look up and say the source of the voice...I can't. All I can do is hear their voices...

"Demons? I see, I suppose it was only a matter of time until you things showed up. Wasn't attacking Hamel enough for you crazed creatures?" Ciel says to the crowd of demons flying in the sky.

"Hm? You think we're here to do what we did to Hamel? Don't be foolish, we're here for a completely different reason! You must be the one accompanying the fallen Demon Lord? How interesting, I've wanted to see how strong you are for a while now..." The voice giggles creepily.

"D-Demon...Lord...? What on Elrios are you talking about?" Ciel asks as I hear him unsheathe a weapon of some sort.

"Oh, it seems she's really kept you in the dark about all of this! Using you like a toy, it's just like her." The voice torments.

"D-Damn it! Lu, if you can hear me, you need not to worry; I'll take care of these disgusting things." He tries to inform me.

No...Ciel...run...

"Kahaha! Big words! Go, my loyal servants! _Burn this village to the ground!"_

"Damn it! Kouji! Take Lu and stay in the cabin, don't leave it no matter what!" Ciel commands.

Kouji does as Ciel asks of him. He dashes over to me, scoops me up and escapes inside his cabin. He gently leans me against a wall and puts me in a siting position. The wooden door slams shut. I can hear Kouji crying in confusion and fear.

No, oh dear El, no. That voice, that energy emitting from her, it has reminded me. I remember now. I remember it all.

Oh, Ciel, if only I could tell you that you must run. This is my fight not yours, this Succubus...she's too much. She'll end you. I don't want to you to die because of me, I'm her target.

Please...Ciel..._**run**..._


	14. No 12: The El Search!

**Helloooo Elpeeps! How are you all? I hope you're all doing well! It's time for chapter 12~! Couldn't have made this chapter without your help, thank you for reading! **

**I would like to give a very special thanks to PokeHetaFan, thanks for your support! You are the best! C:**

**Feedback is ALWAYS welcome~! C:**

**Now, time for the next chapter!**

* * *

"This place is amazing!" Elsword exclaims.

The team of four make their way through the wild forest, greeted by the ancient-looking ruins. The red-haired knight wanders off from his team and examines the old, broken-down buildings scattered across the entire forest. The Elf, Mage and Guardian follow the interesting kid. None of them quite amused by their surroundings. The boy had been in his house for almost all his life, its only natural to be amazed by everything he sees for the first time. Aisha plays around with her staff, bored about the whole situation.

"Jeez...can someone please remind me what we're doing here again?" Aisha huffs.

"Don't you remember? Hagus and Lowe asked us to stop a bandit named 'William' that has been bothering and playing pranks on people. He's now invaded the Forest Ruins, they want us to put an end to his mischief." Rena kindly explains.

Aisha lets out a sigh, uninterested in Rena's words. Chung walks slowly behind them, observing their behaviour curiously.

"And you; hurry up will you? You're slowing us down!" Aisha complains while turning to the Guardian.

The Guardian's face goes red, he drops his head and sulks.

"S-sorry...it's just...this armor. It slows me down, I can't move around as fast as you guys...please forgive me." Chung says softly while sulking even harder.

Rena glares at Aisha, anger in her eyes. She pulled Aisha close and whispers in her ear.

_"Aisha! Don't be so hard on him, he's been through a lot. The least he needs right now is for you to keep nagging at him." She whispers._

Aisha pulls away, looks at the upset, lonely Guardian and shivers as a rush of guilt runs through her. She scratches her arm, she knows what he's gone through. She shouldn't of have been so mean.

"No, don't apologize...I'm the one that should say sorry. I'm just slightly grumpy since I don't like being in dirty places like forests." Aisha says.

Chung's face immediately beams with happiness.

"So, I'm not a burden?" He asks.

"No, of course not!" Rena smiles.

Elsword stops dead in his tracks, stiff as a statue. He carefully turns around and looks at his team.

"Err, guys? If you're not too busy; you might want to take a look at this." He tells his team as he points in front of him.

The team speed up their walking speed and reach Elsword. They stare at the location he's pointing at and see what he's worried about: A pack of bandits tip-toeing around the ruins. They hear the team's footsteps and stare at them, startled.

"Phorus!" Elsword yells.

"We can see that, you dummy!" Aisha yells back as she readies her staff and begins to collect magic.

"Do we attack them?" Chung asks as Rena charges a magic arrow to fire.

"Only if they attack us first." She answers.

The Phorus stare a while longer at the team of freaks. They begin chatting and arguing among themselves. The Guardian gets out of his firing position.

"I don't think they're going to-" Chung tries to tell the team.

The Phorus hold up their wooden sticks defensively and dart towards them.

"Heh, nope! They're going to attack us!" Elsword laughs with excitement.

Three of the Phorus leap at the Elf, the Guardian stares in fright as they surround her.

"Rena!" He shouts out.

Small sparks of fire curl and twists around the Elf's firing arm, she aims her bow and arrow.

"Phoenix Strike!" She exclaims.

The small sparks turns into actual fire and forms itself into the shape of a majestic bird. It flies and twirls in the air before flying straight into the three Phorus. Chung's mouth gasps in astonishment. The flames linger a bit before dispersing and disappearing, leaving nothing left of the Phorus. Aisha continues to stand in place and charge her magic.

C-Chung! Please, give me some support fire!" Aisha shouts to the Guardian as the rest of the Phorus run to her.

"Right!" He shouts back as he gets into his firing stance, he lifts his Destroyer off the ground and points it towards the running Phorus.

"Impact Detonation!" He yells at the top of his lungs as a large, blue barrage of missiles fire from the Destroyer and shoot towards to the attacking pack of bandits. The missiles make contact and blows up the seven Phoru's insides, the bandits explode in a beautiful, bright-blue light. The Guardian relaxes as he watches the explosion, he felt a happy, warm feeling inside of himself knowing that he was helping the search for the El. Stronger, he was getting stronger...and once he was strong enough...he would save his-

One of the bandits dash out of the explosion, unscratched. One left...the Guardian's shoulders sag...he had left one alive. He wouldn't be able to make it to Aisha in time. Chung had relaxed too soon.

"Flame Geyser!" The red-haired Knight screams as he leaps in between the bandits and the Mage.

His Great Sword slams into the ground, the earth underneath the gang begins to shake, causing a mini earthquake. A bright-red burst of flames cracks and shoots out from the floor, engulfing the last Phoru in fire. It screeches in pain before falling down...dead.

The Knight breathes heavily as he tries to catch his breath.

"Phew...that was close, huh?" He laughs weakly.

The rest of the El Search Party stare at the Knight in awe. The Guardian feels ashamed, he shouldn't have dropped his guard so quickly. He's not nearly strong enough, and he won't ever be unless he realizes his limits and excepts them. He promises to himself to never make that mistake ever again.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Elsword!" Rena giggles, teasingly.

A stomp to the ground behind them catches the team's attention, they turn around and see a much larger Phoru. The Phoru holds a sharp-looking sword and wears a silly, blue skirt. The El Search Party stares at the Phoru, clueless of who he is. The Phoru sweats uncontrollably, he had witnessed the whole fight. He takes a few steps back.

"Wait a second...the description Hagus gave us...I know! You're William!" Elsword yells as he swings his Great Sword behind him. Ready to attack. The others agree and do the same. William waves his strange-looking hands in front of him and backs away further.

"N-no! I-I-I don't want to fight! P-please don't kill me! I won't play pranks or steal anymore, I promise!" He weeps and begs to the team.

"Huh? Well...if you promise not to...I guess we can let you go..." The Knight nods slowly as he looks at his friends.

"What? You can't be serious! Our mission is to put a stop to him, we can't trust his words! How can we be sure he won't just break his promise?" Aisha disagrees.

"No, Aisha. I think Elsword knows what he is doing. If he says we can trust him, we just need to believe in his words." The Guardian mutters.

They all look at Rena, waiting for her input on the matter.

"Well, I suppose we can let him go..." She nods.

The Knight turns back to William and glares at him.

"We've made our choice, we'll let you go. However, if you break your promise..." The Knight informs the bandit, leaving the last part of the sentence out. The bandit understood what the last part was.

The bandit quickly nods his head and bolts from the place. Aisha frowns and stares at the red-haired Knight.

"Are you sure he won't break his promise?"

"Nope, not at all." The Knight smiles.

* * *

_"_Rise and shine."

W-what...how long have I been asleep? I'm lying on the ground in some...forest of some sort...I get up to my knees and hold my bruised head. Ow...I have such a bad headache right now.

"A headache is really the least of your concerns, wouldn't you agree?"

Ah! That voice! You're the voice from that old hairpin! I can still hear you...please tell me what happened!

"What happened? It's simple. You grabbed the hairpin I've been sealed in, thus allowing my spirit to come out and take over your battered body. You were in really bad shape...I fought as hard as I could...but that demon...he is extremely strong. He's not like anything I've ever seen before. I was able to lead you out of there and into a nearby woods...and it turns out the transformation is only temporary. You took control of your body again and here we are." The voice answers.

Who...who are you?

_"I'm the nine tailed demon fox that was sealed many years ago, surely you've heard about me. My name is Eun."_

Eun...thank you for saving my life.

_"Don't thank me, your brother still took off with your precious El Moonstone. Plus, I had my own reasons for helping you."_

Reasons? What do you mean?

_"I want to make a deal with you, since you're a pretty good fighter."_

A deal...what is your deal?

_"You see...I've been in this damned hairpin for as long as I can remember, and as you can imagine I want to leave this hairpin as soon as possible."_

And you want me to help you.

_"That's right."_

What do I get in return, Eun?

_"I'll lend you my incredible power, you want to see your brother once more. Am I right?"_

I...I do.

_"So until you find your brother and save him what he was become, I'll give you my strength...but in return you must find a way to let me out of this prison afterwards. Do we have a deal?"_

...We do.

* * *

"Stop staring at me like that..." Elsword groans.

"You let him get away." Aisha hisses.

"It'll be fine." Rena smiles as they make their way through the deep, dark forest. Leaves and bugs surrounding them.

"I...I think we're lost." The Guardian sighs.

The Knight turns his head left and right, analysing their surroundings, and places his fingers on his chin as though he was attempting to make an intelligent deduction. He eventually nods.

"That only makes sense, everything looks the same in this forest." He state, pretending that no one else properly noticed it like he did.

Aisha lifts her staff and smacks it into the Knight's head.

"You idiot! You said you knew where we were going!" She yells.

The Elf smiles, amused as the two children began to argue. They really are cute together when they argu-

Rena drops her bow in shock and fright. The Mage turns and walks over to her.

"Rena? Are you okay?" She asks.

She looks around and sees what the Elf had saw, her mouth opens. She tries to say something, she can't. The words won't form...no words could express what she was looking at. The Knight and Guardian join them, they stare in horror at the sight in front of them.

Piles after piles of dead, ripped-open bodies fill the ground in front of them. Blood pours and oozes out of the freshly-dead Phorus. Aisha puts her hand over her mouth and tries her best not to throw up. The Guardian turns away, unable to look at the piles of bodies any longer. A giant, white Phoru lies in the middle of the massacre. His skin ripped, his ribcage torn open. Multiple organs missing.

"Who did this...?" The Knight asks slowly.

The Guardian shakes his head and stares sadly at his team.

"A monster."


	15. No 13: The Boy With The Shattered Mind

**Yo everyone! Glad to see you all once again! Chapter 13 is coming at you~! Been a few days since I've posted a new chapter, no? Well the weeks have been pretty busy...but its quickly getting better! **

**My special thanks this time is to WhiteMk! Thanks for following and putting this story in your favourites, it means a lot! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~!**

**I hope you all enjoy! C:**

* * *

The boy swings his right leg back and smashes it into the little Phoru's chest. The Phoru's chest explodes amusingly with a beautiful spray of blood and gore. It screeches as it lays on the floor, clinging on to dear life. The Tracer stands above the dying Phoru, he smiles and stomps on the creatures head. He laughs as he hears the satisfying sound of its skull being crushed. He turns around to the Phorus that are left. Three small ones and the giant one have yet to be killed. The Tracer lifts his hand and darts it forward.

"Mind Break!" He yells.

Three of the Nasod Dynamos flies above the three Phorus' heads. It fires down electrical shots to their brains. They fall to the ground, covering their ears. Trying to hold on. How laughable. The Tracer then closes his hand into a fist, commanding the dynamos to put the Phorus out of their misery. Crimson blood shoots out of their mouth and ears as their brains explode. They stop moving. They're dead. Good.

The boy grins as he looks up to the last Phoru, the giant one that the bandit had kindly left him. He flicks his hand and watches the dynamos spin in front of him.

"Particle Accelerator!" He screams as the Nasod Dynamos in front of him fire a large, purple laser. Ending the last Phoru.

The Tracer lets out a bored sigh and kicks away the dead body of the giant Phoru, he glances for a second at its insides through the broken ribcage. Perhaps he could use a few things in there for experiments later on. He leans softly on the floating Nasod Dynamos behind him and snaps his fingers.

"Open storage system." He commands.

A large, light-blue hologram grows out of the Dynamos and hovers in front of the uninterested Tracer. He touches the holographic screen and scrolls through the options on it. He flicks through multiple pages, trying to find the option he's looking for.

"...Store item...store item...store item..." He mumbles as his eyes dart across the screen.

He flicks and plays around with the screen some more, skimming through the many options in his PC.

"C'mon, I know I programmed that option in here somewhere..." He mutters as he gets close to his desired option.

He finally finds the button he was looking for, he sees in capital letters on the holographic computer: **'STORE ITEM'**

"There you are, you are a pain in the ass to find." He laughs to himself.

He frantically taps the small button and watches in amusement as the computer's hologram begins to scan the disturbingly-smelly Phoru's body. A few organs slowly hover and fly out from under the ribcage. The hologram twists itself around the flying organs and absorbs it, saving the data and organs to its memory system. The Tracer swings his head back and gives out a well needed victory laugh. He knew he was going to have a lot of fun dissecting the organs, discovering its interesting secrets.

"Wonderful, now I have something to look forward to...although...it does raise another problem. Just where the hell can I start my research and experiments? Its not like I have a laboratory for myself. How utterly annoying, I need a place to begin the fun as soon as I can. PC! Open up notes and enter passage: 'Remember to find a damned place to stay at!' End passage."

The Nasod Dynamo's system listens to its master's orders and obeys.

"Good. Now that I've taken care of this pathetic race called 'Phorus', what a retarded name, its time for me to find some sort of actual civilization...but before that I'll catch up with that irritating bandit. What was his name again? Bathy? Banfus? Ah, whatever. It doesn't even matter. I'll soon reach him and rip him apart, no one attacks me and lives to see another day!" The Tracer laughs as his Dynamos spin around him, sensing his excitement.

_**Forget about the bandit, he is nothing. Insignificant.**_

The Tracer jumps back, his Dynamos immediately activating its battle mode. The boy with white hair quickly turns his head left and right. Trying to find the source of the creepy, deep voice.

"Who the hell are you? Show yourself, you creep!" He shrieks.

_**Who am I? A friend.**_

"Bullshit, I have no friends. Give me a proper answer before I blow your brains out!"

_**Blow my brains out? Go ahead. Lets see if you can.**_

The Tracer curses and screams in frustration, how dare this fool mock him!

_**Done with your screaming, got that out of your system?**_

The Tracer stays silent, cursing the voice's existence.

_**I'll take that as a yes. You're probably wondering why I'm contacting you, I shall get straight to the point. I know your goal, what you want to achieve.**_

"Cut the crap." The Tracer sighs, sceptical of the voice.

_**You think I'm lying? Very well, I shall prove it if you want.**_

"Kah! As if! There's no way in hell that you would be able to-"

_**You want to complete your flawed time travel formula and travel back in time, am I right?**_

The Tracer takes a sudden step back, he feels as though a knife has just been cut clean through him. He grimaces as he stands there, confused. Who is this person? How does he know this much?!

_**Forgive me. I didn't mean to come out and say it like that but you wouldn't have believed me if I hadn't. Making you hate me was not my intention.**_

"...Well...you sure are failing then. I'm pretty sure I hate you now." The Tracer hisses.

_**Oh well. Anyway, I have contacted you to tell you something you'll really want to hear.**_

"Oh? And what would that be?"

_**I have decided to help you in your goal. If you truly desire the power to travel through time then come and find me.**_

"Y-you're serious? Help me? How in Elrios can you do something like that?"

_**I have my ways, you don't need to worry about petty things like that though. Focus on what you want. I can give it to you.**_

"...Hmph, fine. If you can really help me then I accept...I don't usually like to get help but I suppose I could make an exception. But if this is just some false crap you're telling me I'll make you pay dearly."

_**Fair enough.**_

"So how do I find you, strange voice?"

_**Just follow your instinct, you'll reach me eventually.**_

"What? The hell is that supposed to mean?!" He asks.

The voice speaks no more, the Tracer stands there. Silent. Thinking over the strange person's proposal. What's in it for him? He gains no benefit from all of this. Weird...

The Tracer shakes his head and puts on his usual grin again. There's no reason to overthink this. The man said to follow his instincts, so anything he wants to do might lead him to his goal. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

The Nasod Dynamos hover towards its master heels. The Tracer laughs, slides his hands into his pockets and hops onto his invention. The Nasod Dynamos lift him off the ground. The Tracer squints his eyes and scans the forest he's been stuck in. Nothing but damn trees everywhere, he can't tell the difference in the slightest. He curses and brushes a leaf that's been on his white jacket. He shivers as the leaf falls off, how unhygienic...

"**WARNING. NASOD SIGNITURE DETECTED. REPEAT: NASOD SIGNITURE DETECTED.**" The Nasod Dynamo's AI suddenly informs.

The Tracer eyes go wide, his body shakes rapidly with glee. Yes...yes...yes!

"Where?! Tell me where!" He commands to the dynamos.

The hologram from the Nasod Dynamos opens up again with a map that it had recently created. The map shows most of the forest with a blinking dot on the top-right side of it.

"**SIGNITURE LAST DETECTED AT LOCATION: NORTHEAST, APPROXIMATELY 2000 METERS FROM CURRENT LOCATION.**" The system replies to its master.

The Tracer puts his skinny hand over his face and cackles loudly with happiness and eagerness. He'd been waiting in that god-forsaken library for so long, he wanted to crush and rip apart every last one of the race known as Nasods. After all, they were the ones that took everything away from him. He was dreaming about the day when he would leave his prison, capture and research a Nasod and end it with a satisfying death...and that opportunity has finally showed itself. The voice wanted him to follow his instincts? Then he'll do exactly that.

The Tracer tilts his dynamo forward with his heels, his left eye sparking with purple light. He flies in the direction of his target. Eager to know what he can unravel from the spare parts of this Nasod. He grins and gives out a short laugh.

"I wonder how long it will take to discover your secrets...Nasod!"


	16. No 14: Birth Of A Contract

_"**Hm? What are you watching over there?"**_

_"**Oh, Master. You have no idea what you are missing, come over here and watch with me."**_

_"…**The Duo. Why are you watching them in that village?"**_

_"**Because, an incredible fight is going on. We both might know the outcome but a fight like this cannot be missed."**_

_"**Very well, if you believe this fight will be a good one I want to watch it too."**_

_**The servant points to the cracked piece of time and space displaying the battle.**_

_"**By all means, be my guest, Master."**_

* * *

'How did things have to come to this?' The assassin asks himself as he leaps back, dodging a dark wave fired from the Succubus opposite him.

The Succubus flies towards the retreating assassin, her scythe ready in her hands. As she gets closer she swings three times with her weapon. The assassin watches the scythe carefully, calculating where the Succubus' weapon would hit, and jumps over them.

The Succubus is right in front of the assassin, she has left herself wide open. The assassin darts forwards, gripping his Gunblades, and fires off two, strong shots from them. They strike the Succubus, forcing her back. She yelps in pain.

"You're really getting on my nerves now. Can't you just stay still?" She complains while giving a signal to her demons to attack the assassin.

Multiple demons, all different-looking but ugly, run after him. They lift their hands and ready their claws and teeth. The assassin's eyes move rapidly as he quickly counts how many targets there are to kill. Ten. There are ten. He's sure of it. The Succubus crosses her arms and stares as her forces close in on the calm assassin. The assassin glares at the demons as they pounce at him, all of ten of them. He closes his eyes and throws his Gunblades up into the air. The Succubus' go wide. The demons slash their claws and swords down upon the weapon-less fighter. Time freezes for the assassin, as though it has stopped entirely, he sidesteps to the left. Going under the frozen, nine demons, then leaps up and grabs their necks. Snapping them one by one.

Time begins to move again. Nine out of ten demons fall like lifeless dolls to the ground. The last one stares confused, unable to understand how the other demons died instantly. The mid-air Gunblades fall into the ready assassin's hands. He shoots the last one in the head, then slowly walks towards the amused Succubus.

"I must say, I am impressed!" She giggles as the assassin continues to walk to her.

"I've been in plenty of fights before, I'm ready for anything you can throw at me." He mutters back.

"Oh ho! I wouldn't be too sure if I were you. You are by all means amazing, but still just an insect."

"Leave this village. You've caused enough destruction and death already." He commands to the Succubus as he watches the buildings around them burn to the ground.

"Sure thing, just give me the Demon Lord."

"Her name is Lu, and no. You're not getting anywhere near her."

"How amusing! I'm curious now, just why are you fighting so hard for someone you barely know?"

"Because she's innocent. She's just a lost child, I'd be as despicable as you demons if I let you take her."

"Innocent? Dear El, you know nothing at all. Do you know what Demon Lords even do? Trust me, it's simply unspeakable. Even for my standards."

The assassin says nothing else and strides closer to his target.

"Do you know what she's done to other people? How many of her own kind she's killed just to gain more power?" The Succubus goes on, sensing her words bite into him.

He shakes his head in doubt and points his left Gunblade forward. The Gunblade immediately starts to gather power for an energy shot. The Succubus keeps her arms crossed and just watches as the assassin fires a blast at her. It strikes straight into her forehead, her head flings back from the shot. She lifts her head back up, revealing no signs of damage on her, and looks at the surprised assassin.

"As I said. An insect." She smiles as she cuts through the assassin's flesh with her scythe.

* * *

_"**So, you have already seen the outcome?"**_

_"**Yes, Master. It's a very interesting fight, right to the very end. Still, just as expected the Succubus will kill both the assassin and the ex-Demon Lord. They do not have much longer left in this world...but we can't tell them that. It will only discourage them, then the fight won't nearly be as amusing as it should be!"**_

_"**Alright, this is all pretty amusing, however we haven't checked on the Demon Lord in a while. Let us take a look at her now."**_

_"**As you wish, Master."**_

* * *

The Demon Lord stands up, firm and strong. The frightened boy stares in horror at the moving figure that was once an ordinary, little girl. The demon girl stares at her hands, intrigued as she watches them grow and mutant. They continuously grow in size, getting darker in colour as the black aura covering her body slides around her newly-grown demonic claws. She waves them around wordlessly, observing it in awe. Kouji begins to crawl on the floor, trying to get away from the frightening demon. The demon girl turns her head and glares at the boy with freckles while heading towards the door that they were hiding in. Kouji stares back at her, his body trembling.

"W-who...what are you?" He yelps in fright.

The girl covered in black aura cracks her large, demonic knuckles and smashes the door down with one punch which shakes the entire cabin with its power. The demon girl steps outside and doesn't look back at the human boy.

"My name is Luciela R. Sourcream. Don't get in my way."

* * *

_"**I've seen enough. I think I've had plenty of entertainment for today. I suppose I'll go check on the continuum again."**_

_"**Of course, Master."**_

_"**What about the opponent you've been preparing to test the young one. Raven, was it?"**_

_"**Not to worry, Master. It has all been sorted. You're in for quite a treat, it'll be a fight you'll never forget."**_

_"**Wonderful to hear. I'll be back soon."**_

* * *

"Scythe Impalement!"

The Succubus giggles with sadistic happiness as the assassin screams. She slashes and cuts multiple times at the assassin relentlessly, giggling louder and louder as he tries his best to keep his composure. The assassin drops to his knees. Coughing up puddles of his own blood, grimacing as his whole body stings from his wounds. The painful, burning sensation was everywhere on his body...slowly driving him too far.

He can't take much more of this. He lifts both of his Gunblades defensively, the Succubus laughs at the useless move and breaks right through it with her weapon. The assassin's defence stance falters and he falls back as the Succubus cuts through more of his skin. He cannot hold it in any longer, he swings his head and screams at the unbearable pain rushing through him. The Succubus' attacks eventually slow down until reaching a stop.

The assassin falls back onto his knees, spits out more blood and holds his injured body.

"Hm? The energy coming from her, it's getting stronger and stronger, so she's coming to the rescue...how adorable!" She laughs.

The assassin can't help but let out a sigh of relief, he could use any type of help right now. Looking down at the scars and cuts along his body, he couldn't help but feel desperate.

"Well, guess I better kill you before that happens." She finishes causally while looking at her nails.

"W-wait...!" The assassin begs, unable to muster the strength to raise his Gunblades defensively in front of himself.

The Succubus lifts and points her finger at the assassin and shoots a purple laser from her fingertip. It fires straight through the assassin's chest. The assassin flies back, his mouth wide with shock. Rushes of his blood gushes out uncontrollably. He lies on the floor, in a pool of his own dark, red blood. He stares sadly at the moon, realizing this was his fate.

With everything left in him he reaches for the bright, majestic moon and tries to grab it. He stays in that position for a few seconds before his eyes close shut and his arm drops. The assassin called Ciel, who fought and killed his whole life to survive, was dead.

The Demon Lord looks at the battlefield. Staring at the burnt buildings, the laughing Succubus, and the dead assassin...her only friend in this world.

She walks onto the battlefield, through the chaos. No signs of emotion on her small face. None of the demons dare attack her, the aura surrounding her felt like death itself. She wanders over to the corpse of the loyal fighter that fought to save her life and everyone in the village. The Succubus smiles at the quiet Demon Lord.

"No one's really going to miss him, besides, you'll going to join him now. Won't that cheer you up?" She laughs as she licks the blood off her scythe.

The Demon Lord says nothing, kneels over the dead assassin and places her palm on his forehead. She closes her eyes and concentrates her magic. The Succubus glares at both of them, thinking about whether or not to kill the Lord as where she stands, but shakes her head and grins. She knows that bringing the dead back is impossible, she wanted to watch the girl try helplessly to do what simply can't be done.

* * *

_N-no...am I dead...? I'm not sure...what is this black void...what...is this room of darkness...? A light...a faint blue light...I can see a light...wait...there is still light? I can still see light...?_

_"Ciel? Ciel?...Ciel, can you hear me?" A soft, angelic voice whispers to me._

_A young, innocent girl wrapped in bright light stands in front of me. Those horns...that face...it's hard to make out, she's so bright, but I think I recognize her...she's...its...her._

_"Ciel...I bought us a bit of time..." She says while smiling to me._

_"...I remember, I finally remember everything. My name...who I am...my past...Ciel, you're dying. There's little to no time left for you, I can't bring you back...not as a human anyway, but I can still save you."_

_"Huh...? Y-you...can...s-save me?" I manage to stutter._

_"Yes. If you want me to. Our souls will be connected for life, and you'll be forced to leave half of your humanity, but it'll save you. It's your choice, Ciel."_

_The light emitting from her is quickly fading...she's right...we don't have much time left. She lifts her little, faint hand and holds it in front of me. She...wants me to...take it..._

_"Please...you're the only thing...the only thing I have left...status, honor, power. I've lost everything._

_Before the embers of my life go out... will you...become my royal strength...?"_

_I slowly lift my hand and take hers. My head feels as though it's exploding...all my memories, everything I can remember flows to her and vice versa. My mind begins to be flooded with all her memories. _

_Her life, her title, her fights and sacrifices. I remember it all like it's my own memories._

_I stare into her in the eyes and look firm._

_"I'll retake the throne...I'll give my soul for you, this contract is complete." I state._

_She smiles and nods her head in agreement._

_"Yes, it is."_

* * *

Blue flashes of light fire around the assassin, a tattoo of a cross forces itself onto the man's forehead. A force field blasts around the fighter, sending the baffled Succubus backwards. Her mouth drops as the revived assassin gets up from the pool of blood he was lying in and stares at the terrified Succubus.

Bringing that assassin back from the dead, it shouldn't have been possible, and the Succubus became paralyzed with fear as she sees it happen in front of her very eyes.

The Demon Lord stands beside the assassin, smiling in her cheeky way again. She pats him on the arm as she summons her claws onto her hands.

"I look forward to your assistance as my butler, Ciel!" She giggles.

"I'm not your butler. We're partners." He snaps back, clearly offended.

"Hehe! You can call yourself whatever you want, butler. Now, let's crush this Succubus together!"

The Succubus grimaces and looks at herself. That force field that emitted from the assassin...it did way more damage than she had anticipated. She howls at the sky with anger, realizing there's no other choice but to retreat for now. She forces herself to raise her arm and signal to the attacking demons to run. Her wings begin to move and lifts her off the ground.

"Don't you dare think this is done, you two are both dead. I swear on my title as the Succubus Queen I shall crush you both!" She shrieks as she flies off with her retreating allies. The assassin turns his head and looks down at the relaxed Demon Lord.

"We're just going to let them go?" He asks.

"Yeah, for now. We'll finish this fight some other time. Reviving you from the dead took a lot out of me." Lu sighs back.

"Understood."

"My, my! How very butler-like!" She laughs.

The assassin sighs with a smile and rests his right Gunblade on his shoulder. They both stare happily at the running crowd of demons.

"So, what now?"

The Demon Lord looks at the assassin and grins.

"What do you think? Let's go get something to eat!" She giggles.

* * *

_"**Master, I do not understand. This can't be...my visions of the future have never been wrong before."**_

_"**Indeed, they are the first to defy the laws of time and space. I definitely overlooked them. They're far more important than we thought. Did you try to see their future again after their fight with the Succubus?"**_

_"**Yes, Master. It didn't work though, I couldn't see any vision. Everything was black, I couldn't make out anything, it makes no sense!"**_

_"**Calm down, ease your nerves. We must be calm and go about this matter in the most sensible way possible."**_

_"**Which is?"**_

_"**We keep a closer watch on them and analyse their movements. By doing so perhaps we can find out why your visions of them aren't working properly."**_

_"**Y-yes...Master."**_

_The servant gasps weakly and stares at blue portal showing the Duo being victorious, he clenches the front of his shirt and lowers his head._

_Just who were those two?_


	17. No 15: The Start Of A Pursuit

**Hey everyone! How is it going? Zacaro here, bringing you chapter 15~! The last chapter took quite a lot of time which is why it took a little longer than expected, my apologies for that. Now it's time for the next chapter! I truly hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!**

**Thanks to everyone who has followed and/or put this story in their favourites. The only reason this story has come this far is because of your support, thank you so much!**

**Feedback is always welcome! C:**

* * *

The sheathed Gunblades strapped to me feel heavy, far more heavy than usual. I feel so tired, as though I have just ran a marathon. Even though Lu had said earlier that she felt tired as well she's now skipping along, whistling a happy tune, in front of me.

We head further and further away from the village, I can't help but turn around and take a last glimpse of it. It only looks like a large pile of ashes now, I remember in my head just how cheerful it used to be. The laughing children, the kind villagers. There were a few perverts here and there in the village but for the most part it almost felt like...home.

Lu looks at me as we continue walking away and realizes how I feel.

"Sorry, Ciel. There was nothing we could do about it. Neither of us were strong enough to stop an attack like that."

"They...didn't have to die." I whisper back.

Lu stares at me for a few seconds before turning around and speeding up her walking pace. I wonder how she feels about the village's fate...does it matter to her?

That female demon...the Succubus. It's all her fault. She's far too dangerous, allowing her to live would be a great mistake. I know I've promised to serve Lu and strive to regain her power and status...but...if I ever cross paths with that demon again...even if it kills me I'll destroy her with my own two hands. I promise, Kouji.

"So-" Lu begins to speak without turning around to face me.

"-you said you knew a place to stay at now that the village has been burned down?" She finishes.

"Yes, fortunately there's another village not far from here. In fact, it's even smaller. We can rest there for a day or two before heading to wherever you want to go to." I report.

"Splendid! Then we'll do just that, my...you're more helpful of a servant than I thought."

I start to shake with anger and feel as though I should shout at her. I put my hand on my head and sigh. No, I should just bite my tongue on this. Like it or not she saved my life, in the condition of accepting the contract.

The sad truth is I'm only still alive to serve Lu and help her reach her goal of restoring her honour. Still...does she have to rub it in?

Lu grins annoyingly at my red face.

"C'mon, grumpy guts. Let's get moving!" She cheers.

_I do my absolute best to remain out of sight. Hiding beside one of the trees behind them. I've never taken this kind of risk before but this two...they're different. A tall, firm-looking teenager with a child wandering off to El knows where. I try to get closer to the man to analyse him. Using the environment around me to mask my presence. That man's face, those weapons with him. _

_There's no doubt about it, we've done it._

_We've located the target._

"Lu, slow down."

The confused girl slows down and turns to look at me. She scratches her hair and tilts her head. Wondering why I'm suddenly standing still. She glares at my worried face and understands that there's danger around us.

She clicks her fingers, summoning her demon claws. This feeling...the strange sounds coming from our surroundings, it's obvious...we're being followed.

"Make it easier on the both of us and come out from your hiding. We know you're there." I shout as I unsheathe my Gunblades.

The bushes shake and sway, muscly men with daggers and knifes crawl out of them. Smug smiles on all of them, damn it. We're surrounded by them. I turn my head frantically, looked at all of them as they approach us.

Shit, I completely forgot about them. Lu stands next to me, not in the least frightened. Her claws, which are around the same size as her, rest ready on her hands. I notice her composure and copy it. One of the assassins, wearing a baseball cap, walks closer to us than the rest. A larger smile on him than his friends.

"Not half bad, mate. I thought keeping away from your work for a while would've soften ya!" He laughs, the other assassins do the same.

So, he's the leader.

Lu looks at me and raises an eyebrow.

"Do you know these people?" She asks.

"Not personally, but I know what they're here to do. The boss send you here?" I reply, now looking at the assassins' leader.

"Damn straight, you're a dead man. You know the rules as well as all the rest of us. You failed, and now you die." He cackles in delight.

"Forgive me, Lu. This is just some unfinished business from my past." I explain.

She stares at me and the rest of the assassins, thinking over the situation. She eventually shrugs.

"What a bother. This men are getting on my nerves, how dare they point their weapons at me. Ciel! Get rid of them!" She commands with sudden authority as she makes her claws disappear.

I nod my head and raise my Gunblades.

"Of course, they shall be dealt with."

"Ya little smart-mouth...you're dead!" The leader assassin screams as he stabs his knife towards me.

I watch it in slow motion as it heads to my chest, of course though...I won't let that happen. I slide to the right, watching the attack miss. I lift my right Gunblade and strike downwards. Slashing straight through his arm, his hand and knife flop uselessly to the ground. He shrieks as the pain as the the open wound's pain eats away at him. He drops to his knees and cries, holding on to his separated hand. Probably wishing it would connect to his arm again.

I place the blood-drenched Gunblade to his temple and fire a bullet through it. His now-lifeless corpse flops to the ground. Blood still shooting out of his arm. The assassins witnessing the display of their leader's murder shivers and yelp in fear...in fear of the ex-assassin with Gunblades. Lu giggles as she kicks the dead body.

"Yep, he's definitely dead. What a painful way to go!" She smiles while looking at the rest of them.

"N-no...! P-p-p-please don't kill us! We'll leave you alone, we swear!" One of them cries, the others nodding in agreement as their legs shake.

"Seriously? You'd beg for _your_ lives when just seconds ago you swore that you'd kill us? How utterly pathetic! Ciel, end them! Give them all the worst death imaginable!" She hisses.

I raise both my Gunblades and walk to the terrified crowd of assassins. Fresh blood dripping down from one of them.

"As you desire, Lu."

* * *

We're finally here, thank El for that. My feet are covered in bruises and splinters, and I have a terrible case of 'pins and needles'.

Lu giggles as I pant, trying to catch my breath. I check our surroundings. A tiny village with only a few houses, this place is incredibly small compared to the other village I was staying at. As we walk closer to the entrance to the place a short man with grey hair and red clothes wanders down the steps to the small building he was in seconds ago and comes straight towards us. A heavy-looking sword strapped to his back. We need to be careful at what we say.

I tap Lu's left shoulder and gesture to her to let me do the talking, she nods and winks to me.

The man yawns and stretches his arms forward. He clearly just woke up, he looks at the both of us with his almost-closed eyes. He lets out as right arm and waits for me to shake it.

"Morning there. Welcome to Ruben, whoever you are." He yawns again.

I glare at his hand as he waits for me to shake it, what a fool. That uniform is most definitely from the 'Red Knights' I've heard so much about...yet he's so careless... being open to a stranger...oh well. I open my tired hand and shake his gently.

"Name's Ciel, this is..." I begin to say while looking at Lu, realizing I haven't thought about how to introduce her to the public. I wonder about it for a second, the man in red stares at us. Confused as why it was taking me so long to continue my introduction. Wait, I got it. It's perfect.

"...my younger sister, Lu." I finally finish. Lu looks at me, surprised at what I made up, though she just gives a short shrug in the end.

The Knight stares at the two of us. He lets go of our handshake and puts his hands on his hips.

"Well, my name's Lowe. Former fighter in the Red Knights-" He says.

As I suspected, he's a Knight.

"-and you two are here because...?" He asks.

I walk towards him slowly, doing a fake limp on my way. Giving him the impression I've been injured, Lu quickly catches on and plays along with my act. She holds me tightly and begins to cry fake tears. She looks at the concerned Knight with her mesmerizing, blue eyes.

"Please, sir. Big brother was attacked by bandits on our way here. Our village was burned down to the ground, we have no place to go to...please...help us." She whimpers, I start to cough halfway through her speech.

The man's face immediately turns into a worried one, he holds onto my shoulder and begins to pull me. Lu follows behind, crying a few more fake tears.

"Damn it, I got reports of a nearby village being attacked. I didn't think there were any survivors, come. You two can stay at Ann's place for now. I'm sure she wouldn't mind." He speaks as he helps me limp to a pink-haired girl with a shovel watching curiously from a distance.

We all wander over to 'Ann'. The Knight quickly explains the situation, the woman frantically nods her head as she agrees to let us stay inside her house. Lu nods and thanks the woman multiple times. Trying to exaggerate the desperate feel to our fake characters. Ann leads us upstairs to a cotton bed and rests me on it.

"There, you just stay here until you're all better, OK?" She says kindly.

"C-can I sit next to big brother for a while?" Lu asks, using her best innocent voice.

"Sure!" Ann says as she pulls up a wooden chair and places it besides the bed I'm resting on.

"I'll be going out for a while to find some herbs to ease your pain. Hang in there, you two!" She smiles as she leaves the bedroom, closed the door quickly behind her.

Lu and I stay silent for a few seconds, listening carefully as we hear her leave the house. We grin at each other and both laugh for a short while.

"Nice work, Ciel! You're a very good actor." She whispers to me as she sits on the chair besides my bed.

"Are you kidding? Your performance was what sold it." I whisper back. We both laugh quietly again.

Lu grins and cracks her knuckles.

"OK, we'll stay here for the night and continue our little act. Tomorrow morning you shall have a miraculous recovery, we'll ask if they know anything about the demons that attacked 'our' village and find out their whereabouts then we'll bolt out of this village to track my race down." She announces.

I lean further in my soft bed and nod.

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

The red-haired Knight swings his sword back before leaping forward to his enemy with his fire-covered weapon. The Enraged Ent and pull its arm back and swipes downward followed by and upward swipe with his other hand. The Knight dodges to the side and strikes the demonic tree.

"Mega Slash!" He yells as his attack connects.

The giant tree falls onto his back from the force of the Knight's strike. The Guardian behind the Knight fires a cannonball to the ground underneath him, sending him into the sky. He holds his cannon and rockets to the fallen Ent.

"Gigantic Impact!" He shouts as he smashes into the tree. The Ent's body shatters from the impact, it's finally dead...

The exhausted team sag their shoulders and relax as they stare at the dead Ent. The Mage collects her magic and begins to heal her injures. The Knight smiles at her.

"Hey, think you can heal me too?" He asks hopefully, looking at the large cut on his left arm.

"Wait your turn!" She shouts to him, her eyes closed as she concentrates.

The Guardian and the Knight turn and stare at each other before letting out a little laugh.

"You are amazing, Elsword." Chung the Guardian sighs to his friend.

"You're no joke either, Chung! I'm glad to have you on the team!" He grins.

The Guardian blushes and rubs the back of his head.

"T-thank you."

"Well, now that we've destroyed all the enemies in this place, should we get out of here?" The Elf asks to her team.

"Yeah, let's do that. This forest is giving me the creeps...it's so dark." The Knight shivers.

_**"Hold it right there. You don't want to leave just yet."**_

The gang jump in shock and stare in fear at the black figure opposite them. The shadowy figure steps slowly closer to the team. The Guardian holds the handle of the Destroyer cautiously. The strange figure suddenly becomes more visible to them all. The masked man glares at them, seeing all their futures in an instant. He smiles behind his cold, hard mask.

"Who are you?" The Knight asks bravely.

The masked man steps even closer and gives out a short laugh.

_**"To put it simply? Your worst nightmare."**_


	18. No 16: The Duo's First Fight

**Hello again Elpeeps! Glad to see you once more, how are you guys? It's about time for chapter 16 now~! **

**Feedback of any kind is always welcome! C:**

**I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!**

* * *

"Please kill me." Ciel groans tiredly, dragging himself along forcefully.

I give him a soft, friendly punch on his arm and laugh at his request.

"Don't be such a crybaby! It's not even that hot." I giggle to him as he wipes fresh sweat off his forehead.

"Sorry, Lu. I'm just not used to the desert. I've almost never had to travel through one, there's only been a few times." He replies while panting.

My servant trails along sadly behind me through the rough sands and sand dunes. The blazing sun beating down its extreme heat on us. Its not like it isn't hot or anything but...Ciel just continues to effortlessly drag his weapons across the floor and moan. It's getting _really _annoying. The kind people at 'Ruben' were nice enough to tell us where we could find out more information about the demons that attacked 'our' village but did it have to be in the middle of the desert...?

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" I question my servant.

He scratches his head, pulls a small journal out of his black jacket and stares at it while reading his notes.

"Yes, from the directions Hagus gave us we should be going the right way." He answers eventually.

"Good. By the way...I was meaning to ask you when we left Ruben...how are you so good with your sense of direction and knowing where to go next?"

"Simple. I've practised a lot. It is a very essential skill for me." He replies.

"As an assassin?"

His eyes go wide. He says nothing for the longest time. He turns his gaze away from me, his expression going grim.

"How'd you figure it out?" He whispers.

"It was kind of obvious. The assassins in the forest acted like they knew you, for starters. You're also a skilled fighter and you always hesitate to tell me your profession. In the end I still had to make an assumption but I was pretty sure I guessed right."

"I'm no longer an assassin." He snaps angrily.

"Of course you're not! You are my servant now!" I smile.

His expression becomes softer as I give him my cute smile. It's his ultimate weakness, I'm sure of it now. He's a real sucker for it.

The sand beneath sways and shakes, moving on its own accord. Strange...there isn't even much wind anymore. The sand suddenly flies into the air with a strong force, I leap back to avoid the miniature explosion of sand in front of me. Ciel catches me and hauls me to my feet as he unsheathes his Gunblades.

Large, ugly Lizards crawl out of the sand. Screeching annoyingly on their way out of their cover, they reveal their sharp spears and readies them to attack.

"Lizardmen." Ciel hisses.

"Hmph, seems like we won't be getting to Bethma so easily." I sigh as I summon my demon claws.

"You're going to fight as well?" Ciel asks me.

"Yep! This won't be like when you slaughtered your fellow assassins and I simply just watched. I'm joining the fight now, I haven't had a good one in ages...besides; we can finally practice fighting alongside each other!" I grin as the Lizardmen close in on us.

"Very well."

The bravest of the Lizardmen pounces at us first, aiming its spear at Ciel. Ciel watches the attack, uninterested. He rolls forward, dodging the Lizardman's attempt of attack in the process. Ciel stands up straight, points his Gunblades and fires off five shots. The beautiful, blue blasts of energy bash into the Lizardman. It hisses and shrieks in pain, I leap forward to it to finish it off.

"Prey Chaser!" I laugh as I raise my claws on front of myself and collide into the injured Lizardman. It flies back while green, disgusting stream of its blood shoots out from the hole in its chest that I made. Parts of its ribcage tumbles and falls out of it mid-air. Ciel's right eyebrow rises and he smiles as I punch another Lizard, smashing its head clean off its neck.

"Not bad." He grins as rolls to the side, firing a barrage of blue blasts to the Lizardmen close to him. Killing them all.

"I'm not a Demon Lord for nothing you know! Stomp~!" I chuckle while watching the green blood slowly ooze out of the four crushed Lizardmen underneath my fists as I fly straight at them with my claws.

"I'm no slouch either, Lu. Flick Shot!" He shouts back to me as he launches a magic, blue bullet toward the Lizardmen. The large bullet ricochets between them, slicing them in half.

Hm. You're not so bad yourself...you definitely have a lot of skill and power. With a butler like you...retaking my status shall go off in a breeze. I must use you to your full extent!

I swing my left claw back and shoot in forward. Shattering the Lizardman's skull. Ciel slides elegantly through seven Lizardmen's attacks, he turns around after their attacks are done and proceeds to decapitate them as he cuts with his bloody Gunblades through their sorry necks. I can't help but giggle as the final two Lizardmen cry in fright and run off. I glare at Ciel once I'm done laughing and point to the retreating Lizardmen.

"Ciel, finish them." I command.

"B-but they're running away, they're not attacking us anymore..." He hesitates as he looks at the scared Lizardmen.

"Are you questioning your master?! I said end them! Kill them! Take away their sorry lives!" I yell, flustered at the thought of Ciel ignoring my orders.

"R-right...as you wish. Triple Shot!" He says as he shoots rapidly towards the terrified Lizards. The giant barrage of bullets blasts straight through their backs, carving large holes in them. Their bodies plunge to the ground, their insides displaying a green fountain of blood.

"Happy?" He sighs.

"Wonderful job, my servant! That will teach those Lizards not to mess with the almighty Luciela!" I grin back to him, allowing my blood-soaked claws to disappear.

"Bethma shouldn't be too far now, we'll ask them what they know about the whereabouts of the demons and finally get out of this boiling place. Hopefully they'll lead us to somewhere cooler..." He declares to me.

"Then let's hurry up! A true Demon Lord takes no breaks!" I exclaim as I march forward, stepping on the soft, sticky bodies of the Lizardmen.

"I wish they did..." Ciel sighs.

* * *

"My worst nightmare? Is that supposed to scare us?" The Knight smirks at the dark figure.

The Guardian grips his Destroyer worriedly, ready to get into his shelling position if he has to. The Mage stops her healing spell immediately and pulls out one of her spell books. The Elf readies her bow and charges up a magic arrow, pointing it at the eerie shadow of a man.

**_"Since you all seem so ready to engage me in battle I suppose you have no idea who I truly am and what I'm capable of doing."_**

"Should we?" Chung questions the dark man, sweat of fear slowly rolling down his face.

_**"No, not yet I guess. Perhaps if I am to show I mean business I should show what I can do."**_

The dark figure glares silently at the Knight standing in front of his team with his cold, yellow eyes. The Knight tilts his head and stares at the man, confused of what he was talking about.

"So what can you do-" The boy begins to blabber.

He stops his question halfway through and clenches his shirt, holding tightly onto his own chest. He slowly tries to mutter or stutter something out but he fails. He collapses to his knees and flops to the floor. Motionless. Elsword the Knight was dead.

The gang scream in fright as they rush to the Knight and begin to shake and hold his lifeless body.

_**""It is no use. He is dead.**_

"Y-y-you...killed him...? Just by staring at him?" Aisha whispers with her eyes wide open, she holds him close and shakes her head in disbelief.

"No...no...no!" She cries in horror.

The Guardian, Mage and Elf step back from the chuckling figure. Their bodies shiver as they stare at the powerful being, petrified of its existence.

_**"Calm down, all of you. I haven't taken your leader away for good."**_

The shadowy figure lifts his right hand and snaps his fingers. Small fragments of a different power emerge and circle around the dead Knight, the fragments raise the boy's corpse and sparks with energy. The boy's eyelids quickly and frantically open, he rapidly turns his head. Staring agitatedly at the laughing figure and his team.

"W-what just happened?" He asks slowly.

**_"Now that you've realized my abilities perhaps you shall take me and my advice seriously. I shall make this simple as I barely have any time left. Make pursuit for a place called Altera, reach that place as fast as you can. I have business with you all there."_**

"A-and...if we don't...?" The green-haired Elf asks quietly.

_**"That's your choice, however if you do not want to meet a terrible fate I recommend searching for me there."**_

The dark figure chuckles one last time before swinging his arm behind himself, creating a blue crack. A portal. He turns to leave but stops before heading into the portal.

_**Oh. There's one more thing.**_

"What would that be?" The Guardian questions.

_**"...If you are to encounter a tall man covered in black accompanied by a young girl...kill them on sight. They are planning on killing all of you."**_

"W-w-what?" Elsword stutters.

The dark figure says no more and steps into the blue light behind him, the portal engulfing him whole. The Knight turns to look at his quiet team. They stare wordlessly at the red-haired boy.

"But seriously...what did he do to me?" He asks the team.

Aisha folds her arms and sighs.

"Whoever he is...we know what he's capable of doing to all of us. I think we have no choice but to listen to what he tells us to do." She whispers to the rest.

The Guardian nods in agreement.

"And if the creepy man's description of the two people turns out to be true...we must be cautious. What do we do if we do cross paths with these two people?"

The Elf glares at the ground and sags her shoulders.

"We can't take any chances. We'll capture and question them." She says.

"And if they resist?" Elsword asks, an anxious expression written across his face.

Chung nods his head and leans sadly against his Destroyer.

"I hope it doesn't come to it...but if it does...we'll have no choice but to defeat them."


	19. OC Teaser: A Fallen Fighter

**Hello once again! It's time for the next chapter~! It's time for a new POV? Who is this person? Well, he's an upcoming OC that's going to be very relevant to the plot of the story, so this is an introduction for him.**

**Now then, on to the teaser! C:**

* * *

Heh. So this is how it finally ends huh? Everything around me is tumbling clumsily down to the ground. Destruction flying across the city, as far as the eye can see. Parents with their children…running and screaming through the chaos, trying to escape their inevitable fates. Ironic really, isn't it? The time where peace has completely been destroyed is the time when I feel at peace the most. Ha, I truly am a complicated person, aren't I?

Not like I'm bothered by the destruction happening around me, who cares for a reality that will soon cease to exist? However I must return my attention to…**him**. He stands there, opposite me. Glaring wordlessly at me, he doesn't want to talk? Fine, I'll do the talking.

"It seems after all your efforts…you still didn't get what you wanted. Isn't that just depressing? You must feel awful inside." I laugh. He stares hatefully at me some more before speaking.

"…It didn't have to turn out this way…this was your choice. This is what you wanted, none of this had to happen. All of this is happened because you kept arrogantly refusing your destiny. The destiny that, like it or not, would have benefited all of mankind. If only you could understand your role in this world, all these people wouldn't have to die…yet…even now…you still don't regret what you have done?"

"Regret? Benefited mankind? Role in this world? Don't make me laugh, I already know my role in this world and it's very different from the role you want me to take. I wouldn't benefit mankind…I would benefit you, you're a coward and a liar. I have no regrets, absolutely none. This is my role. It always has been. Now spare me the effort by rolling over and dying, it would make everything so much easier."

"S-silence…you're insane if you think your actions are justice. I have no choice now but to end you…because of your foolishness this world doesn't have much time left unless I return to and fix the time-space continuum…and I can't do that until you…die." He groans while coughing up blood.

I laugh at his speech, ignoring the unbearable pain emitting from the hole in my chest. I'm going to bleed out any moment now…I wanted to rub it in his face some more before I finished him..however considering I'm going to die in a minute or so, I'd better end this quickly. I open my fingers, conjure dark flames into my hand and allow it to build up in my palm until it turns into a compressed ball of fire.

"I've had enough idle chit-chat, let's end this, see what the fate of this world is…and finally find out who is stronger."

He coughs up a bit more blood and grimaces.

"I suppose…I have no choice."

He gets up even through the pain from the injures I've caused him. I smile. Not a cheeky or cocky smile, it's a true, genuine smile. He's unlike any man I've ever come across, he might be a coward and a liar like I called him but in the end his powers stand among gods…and he uses all of it to protect his pathetic reality. He's quite selfless. He clenches his fist and closes his eyes, as though to concentrate.

I don't know how you would be able to concentrate over the sounds of people screaming in agony…but somehow he pulls through. Shiny yellow particles form around his clenched fist; he gets into a fighting stance. Ready to charge at any given time. I follow suit. Continuously I stare at him and smile, waiting for his attack…

It doesn't come.

I wait a little longer before frowning at him. I keep the ball of flames in my hand active and stay in my fighting stance, he does the same…but he still doesn't move. I give him a frustrated look.

"What's the matter, having second thoughts? Why aren't you attacking?" I ask.

"I just want to ask one more question before we end this."

"Make it quick, I don't have much blood left in my body."

"The question is simple. Are you satisfied with everything that has happened up until now? Would you have it any other way?"

"Heh. What kind of question is that? Of course I'm not satisfied with what's happened 'till now. But I guess that's just how the future decided to unfold."

"Very well. That's all I wanted to ask…"

"Good." I say before darting at him at full speed.

I throw multiple fireballs in his direction, he reacts to my attacks by creating a shield with the strange, yellow energy flowing around him. He points his finger at me, opening a portal close to my position. The yellow portal opens up, releasing several energy balls out of it. What is this power? I've never seen it before!

I swing my hand up while smiling at my opponent, the flames I made circles and flows around me, eventually making a small tornado surrounding me. I watch happily as the fire around me grows in size and heat. This fool, he might have the powers of a god...but he isn't one. I shall show him. I will show him true power. The power of fire that no other living being can equal. The burning flames screech and blaze louder and louder, reacting to the amount of energy I'm forcing into it.

"Judgment By Fire." I grin as the tornado of flames breaks away from me and my burning flesh and propels itself towards worried man facing me.

The fire tornado crashes and cracks the ground beneath it as it forces its way through the already-destroyed homes of the already-killed citizens. My opponent puts his arm behind him and summons a giant crack in the fabric of time and space. He watches the tornado blaze towards him while his hand stays in the crack of time-space energy, eventually pulled his arm out revealing a sparkling ball of light in his hand. Where did he get that from?

The man stands back and chucks the tiny ball of light at the charging tornado. What on El is he planning?

The ball of light collides with my tornado, turning into a portal itself, and sucks in the flames I had thrown. No way. Impossible. There's no way that small portal can absorb all of the tornado...but it does. The fire flies straight into the miniature portal before both of them disappear. No. Not yet. I'm not done yet. My powers can get stronger...even stronger. I shall kill this man. I refuse to let him live. _**He must die!**_

He mutters something under his breath as I charge at him. We reach each other, he's in my range. This is it. I can sense my body going numb…my thoughts slowly drifting away. My time is almost up?

"Scorching Detonation!" I yell as I put everything I have into the fireball…and thrust it forward, hitting him in the forehead. At the same time his yellow, glowy covered fist makes contact with my chest…or whatever is left of it. Everything goes white, the explosion shoots me across the city and I collide with a wall.

The wall I hit with my back crushes and crumbles to pieces under the pressure of my collision. Rocks crumble and roll down onto me…I can't feel them. I cannot feel anything anymore. My eyes become far more heavy than I could expected and slowly force themselves to slowly close.

I'm…dying. My time is up. There's no mistaking it. My body is getting colder and colder. I feel as though I've been turned into ice. A dark figure hops to me with only one leg, half of his body is missing…blown clean off…I blew half of everything he is off and he's…he's…still alive…?

"I'm sorry." He whispers.

With all my strength I look at the floor I fell onto…and see my ripped-off arms and legs drenched in crimson blood just a meter away from me.

**"Oh."**

It was all I could say before my eyes slid shut…forever.


	20. No 17: The Swamp Of Death

**Hey guys, great to see you all again! How are you all? It's time for chapter 17~! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy! Also, thanks for everyone that viewed the teaser for the new character for this story! Here is a little more information about him: Male. Long, black hair down to his waist (Can be mistaken for a girl) with red streaks going through it. He's hot-headed, has a habit for rushing into situations without thinking it through, has a great amount of anger within him almost all the time. That's all I can tell for now, the characters full info shall be released soon. Please look forward to that C:**

**Release date for new character: February 14th~! **

**Special thanks to cupid4751 and Kura no Musa for following and/or putting this story in their favourites, you two are the best! C:**

**Feedback of any kind is always welcome~!**

**Now, time to start the next chapter!**

* * *

"Graaah! Where is the damned Nasod?!" The Tracer shrieks.

The boy quickly leaps off his Nasod Dynamos and reaches the ground. He frantically wipes the disgusted dirt off his white jacket and turns his head left and right, trying to find his precious Nasod. The trees around him sway silently with the wind, he can hear tiny crickets make their familiar noise in the long, lush and green grass. It's...it's almost relaxing...

But finding Nasod is far more important than pathetic relaxation!

The boy swings his clenched fist at the Dynamos behind him and punches it as hard as he can, the Dynamos recoil slightly from its master's punch but shows no other evidence of damage. The Tracer punches it several more times in frustration.

"You utter piece of garbage! There's no Nasod here at all! You lied to me, you pile of shit!" He screams as he starts to kick his Dynamos, anger and rage filling him from top to bottom.

"Don't you dare bring my hopes up again unless you really have found an El damned Nasod! Do you hear me?!" The boy yells at the silent Nasod Dynamos.

An extreme, terrifying roar from a small distance away takes the Tracers attention away from beating his creation and forces him to stare at the location of the roar. He squints his eyes angrily, snaps his fingers to bring his Dynamos off the ground and back to his side and begins to advance to the sound emitting from a swamp nearby. The disturbing stench of the swamp causes the Tracer to hold his nose.

"Dear El, that smells like dog shit." He mumbles under his hand.

Multiple trees collapse to the ground, the roaring gradually gets louder and louder. The Tracer faintly sees a large monster in the distance, howling to the sky. An exciting smile slowly creeps along the Tracer's face, he giggles happily as he hops onto his Dynamos and flies towards the beast.

"Finally, something else to kill! Kahahaha!" He cackles as he hovers to the large Phoru.

It looks larger and far more intimidating than all of the other Phorus the Tracer had killed, but the boy didn't feel in the slightest bit scared. His left eye flickers with bright, purple light as he walks up to the ancient-looking creature. The Tracers grin disappears as he notices a cowardly man hiding behind the giant Phoru. That face...it's Banthus.

"So this is where you were hiding? It's about time I caught up with you! How would you like your death? Having your head crushed under my foot or I tear off your flesh, little by little?!" The Tracer exclaims to the bandit.

"Heh! If you want to fight me you'll need to get past the Ancient Phoru first! Good luck, loser! Hahaha!" The bandit laughs as he dashes away from the scene.

The Tracer starts to grin again, he gets to kill an Ancient Phoru and the bandit that's been bugging the hell out of him. Wonderful. The boy flies towards the beast and points both of his arms forward.

"Void Breaker!" He laughs as the Nasod Dynamos shoot forward and create a small magnetic force in front of him, the core of the attack slowly drags the beast in before exploding.

The Ancient Phoru moans and yells in excruciating agony as it's pushed back from the cackling boy's blast of energy. It quickly gets up and slashes at the Tracer twice with its sharp claws. The Tracer flies straight through the attacks, reaching the Phoru's chest.

"How pathetic, you're nothing! Energy Boom!" The boy shouts as an electrical bullet fires forward, the force of the bullet sending the Ancient Phoru on its back.

The Tracer slides his hands into his pockets and jumps off his Dynamos and glares happily at the injured beast. The Nasod Dynamos fly to the boy's side, ready for its next command. The Tracer puts the hood of the jacket over his head and walks away from the creature. He lifts his hand into the air as he wanders away.

"Neutron Bo-" He almost commands before a group of strange-looking fighters arrive on the scene, holding their weapons ready by their side.

They stare at both the almost-dead, giant Phoru and the laughing boy beside it. The Red-haired Knight takes a step forward to the boy and the Phoru.

"Y-you took the Phoru down...?" He asks, his fear for the laughing boy being extremely clear in his voice.

The Tracer glares at the pathetic group of fighters and stops his laughter, he stares at the Ancient Phoru and grins. This random fools aren't going to take his precious kill away from him. The Tracer lifts his hand and again, cackling happily as he starts to charge up his attack. Purple, electrical blasts and shocks whizzes around the palm of his hand. He takes his hood off his head, revealing clearly his laughing face.

"W-wait, don't kill it!" A blond-haired boy with heavy armour shouts at the Tracer.

"Yeah! Anne told us to keep it alive and-" The Knight starts to say.

"Neutron Bomb!" The Tracer cackles.

A purple core appears above the beaten Phoru, collecting energy as it gets larger and larger. The core quickly generates a magnetic force in behind him, pulling in the Ancient Phoru as it tries to stand up. The Tracer snaps his fingers again, detonating the center of the distortion. Blood gushes and spurts out rapidly from the exploded pile of bones and muscles. The red, dark blood flows down onto all of them like a fountain of death.

The team stare at the cackling Tracer as he laughs even harder while watching the display. They all step back, horrified of the insanity-filled child.

The boy leaps onto his Nasod Dynamos, still laughing, and flies away happily from the pain and death he had caused.

"You...you think he's the one that made that pile of bodies out of the Phorus from before?" Aisha asks to the gang.

"He might be...but...I thought a monster did it." Chung replies quietly.

Rena the Elf puts her gentle hand on the Guardian's shoulder.

"No...that boy's a monster for sure..." The Elf whispers as she looks at the bloody remains of the Ancient Phoru. A small tear rolling down her cheek.

* * *

**_Master, you're back._**

**_Yes...yes I am..._**

**_What seems to be the problem, Master? You look a little...distraught._**

**_I...I...I used my powers. I used my powers again._**

**_What? Why, Master? Why did you need to do something like that?_**

**_I...decided to see the future for myself, I hadn't done it in a long time...but I needed to be sure your visions were correct._**

**_...I see. Well then, Master. What did you see in when you used your own powers? Did you see the same vision I saw about the El Search Gang, the Duo and the white-haired boy too?_**

**_That's...what I cannot understand._**

**_What do you mean?_**

**_I used my powers in hope of seeing the futures of the people we're watching over...yet...I did not see their fates..._**

**_So, you couldn't have any visions?_**

**_No...I had a vision. I definitely saw something in the future...but it wasn't about them at all..._**

**_T-then...what was your vision?_**

**_Well...remember the being I fought many years ago to protect the time-space continuum?_**

**_Yes, you told me about that. You stopped him from destroying reality by killing him, right?_**

**_Yes...however..._**

**_However what, Master?_**

**_I saw him in the vision._**

**_But you said he was dead, how could you possibly see him again in the future? That doesn't make any sense._**

**_That's what I was thinking..._**

**_So, what was your vision of him? _**

**_I saw him, standing on top of a mountain of bodies...human bodies. He's holding a bright red heart in his hand, he is smiling. A corpse is beside him, a hole in its chest, where the heart he's holding came from._**

**_He's holding a heart from a corpse? From which corpse, Master?_**

_The Master slowly reaches for his seat and carefully rests on it, he shakes his head and stares at the floor._

**_Mine._**


	21. No 18: The Wizard By The Lake

**Bonjour~! How are you all? It's me again, happily bringing you the next chapter. So, an error was on this website recently. Many people were annoyed, myself included. This chapter was supposed to come out on the day this website got an error, but now that it is up and running again I come finally give you the next chapter!**

**This shall be a mix of all POVS, thanks for reading and any kind of feedback is always welcome, I'd really like to know how I can improve! **

**Now that all of that has been settled, let us move onto chapter 18 now. I really hope you enjoy~! C:**

* * *

"Haha! You really think you can take someone like me down? I'm the ultimate bandit, Banthus! You losers can't even touch me!" Banthus the bandit laughs loudly as he swings his wooden sword at the red-haired knight.

"I know! You've only told us…about a hundred…times…" Elsword groans as he struggles to continue blocking the bandit's attacks with his sword.

"Hang it there, Elsword! I've got him locked on, Scare Chase!" Chung yells to his teammate as he slams his Destroyer to the ground and blasts off a homing missile. The bandit stares in horror as he realizes the blue missile is heading straight towards him.

"Oh…shi-" Banthus tries to say before the missile collides strongly with him, throwing him back. The bandit just barely stays on his feet.

"Aisha! This is your chance, give him everything you've got!" Rena shouts to the concentrating Mage.

"Right, I'll take him down! Lightning Bolt!" Aisha cries as she raises her magic staff, releasing a massive bolt of shaking lightning. The bolts smash into the terrified bandit, making him drop his precious wooden sword. He quickly panics and tries to scramble to pick it back up.

"Oh no you don't! Rail Stinger!" Rena yells as she lifts her bow, charges up her magic and shoots a powerful arrow at high speed. The arrow bashes into the bandit's back as he tries to pick up his sword, he screams in pain before lying motionlessly on the floor. The gang smile and put their weapons away.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Elsword laughs as turns away from the bandit and stretches.

"Fun? I didn't find any enjoyment out of that to be honest." Chung replies.

"We wouldn't even have had to fight this guy if you didn't let that Phoru go, you idiot!" Aisha complains as she punches the Knight in the head.

"Oh c'mon on! You're still going on about that? I'm sorry, OK? We'll just catch up to William again and take him down for real!"

"That's not the point! Luichel, Hoffman, Echo and pretty much everyone else in Elder has suffered because William is still on the loose…and it's all your fault!" Aisha yells back at the Knight

The Guardian and the Elf laugh as the Knight and the Mage begin to argue once more. Not even noticing the movement behind them, the bandit Banthus slowly crawls to his feet and tip-toes away from the scene as the team is distracted.

"Heh…they haven't got me just yet!" Banthus whispers to himself as he dashes away with the El.

* * *

"It's about time we found this place, I urgently need a rest." I sigh as Lu and I enter the boiling village known as Bethma.

I sulk further and further as my back begins to falter under the pain of the weight put on it. Lu giggles at my remark and holds on tightly to my back, I better convince her to let go of me soon…I don't want _anyone _seeing me give a piggyback ride…even if they don't know me.

"C'mon now, Ciel! All I have asked of you is to carry me for a while, is that so hard? If you want to be my servant-" Lu starts to smirk.

"I don't want to be your servant at all." I interrupt.

"-then you must have more energy than what you are currently showing me!" Lu continues, ignoring my interruption completely.

"Look who's talking, the one who's been forcing someone else to carry her through almost the entire desert." I groan as I continue to just barely carry her

Lu crawls higher up my back, gives me one of her cutesiest smiles and roughly pats the top of my head.

"As a servant you must listen to every one of my commands, this is just one of the easiest ones. I could easily walk across this desert myself but when you have a loyal follower that does your every bidding, why bother?" She shrugs once she's done patting my head.

I start to slow down my pace as we reach the entrance to the quiet village. Sands blow and fly with the wind strongly against us; the sand in the air twirls and dances angelically through our surroundings, settling itself softly onto the floor beneath us once it has finished its calming dance. This village looks empty though, a couple of huts and houses here and there but no actual signs of life. It's quite eerie to be honest.

I suddenly hear a slow, almost completely-quiet footsteps. Great, so the Lizardmen have already invaded and taken over this place. I quickly drop the surprised Lu to the ground and leap back while firing multiple shots in the direction of the footsteps. A middle-aged woman with light brown hair ducks with a startled expression on her. I look at the wall of a hut behind and see the holes I had made with the Gunblades, I almost hit her.

"Hey! What the hell was that for, you punk?!" She shouts while waving her fist at me.

"M-my apologizes! I thought you were one of the Lizardmen we had encountered." I reply as she steps closer to me with the intent-to-kill look in her brown eyes.

"Hmph! Well, you better watch yourself from now on. Nobody messes me, got that into your thick skull?" She snorts as she folds her arms, glaring at both Lu and I with a suspicious look on her face.

"Of course."

"Good."

I lower my head and cough quietly, she's a hard one to talk to. I hope I don't screw this up, I have to get the whereabouts of the demons from her. I must be cautious of my words.

"May I know your name?" I request politely.

"Stella, Sheriff of this barren shithole. I'm in charge of security."

"I see, I'm Ciel and this is Lu." I introduce us while pointing at the silent Lu.

"Didn't ask." She hisses.

"We've come here to ask you something here in Bethma." I inform her.

"Cut to the chase, kiddo. What do you want?"

"We have travelled here in hopes of finding the current location of demons that have been attacking this land."

"Hm, you one of those adventures huh?"

I turn for a second and look cluelessly at Lu, she stares back while tilting her head. She doesn't have any advice for this, I guess I'll just have to go with it.

"Yes, we are."

"Well, sorry. I have no idea where those damned demons are. I've got too much work on my hands over here to care about some creatures that haven't even made it into this region."

"I might be able to help you though…" A playful-sounding voice whispers behind us. Both Lu and I swing ourselves around to look at a grinning man with short, purple hair with jewelry wrapped all around his fingers.

"You can?" I ask the man curiously.

"Indeed, young man. The place my sister Rosean is currently staying is at has been attacked many times over the course of her stay there. If there's any place to look for the demons it's there." He smiles.

"I see, so where is she staying?"

"Woah there! Slow down, I'm not just going to give that kind of information away!"

"Do you want me to pay you?"

"Nope, my request for the information isn't money. A lot of trouble and chaos has been heard from the mines near this village, it's quite worrying. If you can go in there and check the source of the mischief going on there I'll happily give you what you want." He says while pointing his jewelry-covered finger to a pile of rocks.

I look at Lu, she nods to me. I nod back and stare at the grinning man.

"Very well, you have yourself a deal. I'll check what the noise is about."

"That's wonderful to hear! Good luck, cutie." He winks.

"Err…thanks?" Lu says unsure-like while she scratches the back of her head.

"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to your dashing young friend over here." He grins at Lu while winking at me again.

I sense my face going red, I quickly grab Lu's small hand and pull her away with me.

"W-we'll be on our way now!" I yell as we dart away from the Sheriff and the flirty, purple-haired man.

* * *

"Tempest Dance!"

I throw myself forward elegantly spinning forward and striking the demons darting at me. The sharp part of my spear cuts and slices through them, they fly back from the force of my attack…screaming in an unsettling manner as they do so. One of them somehow gets up from my strike and runs towards me. It raises its pointy claws and slashes rapidly at me, hoping to cut me apart in an instant. I leap back just before the demon's attack lands on me and jump up into the air as much as I can.

"This should be interesting…" I hear Eun laugh as I lift my spear and drop down to the demon as fast as possible.

"Falling Dragon!" I yell as I slam my spear to the ground. The demon shrieks as my weapon collides with his skull, it flops to the floor and screams some more before it drops its head and going silent. Killing…it feels so wrong…

"Heh, yet so right. You've done great, you know. The fight took a bit longer than I expected but in the end you still performing excellently, you're a natural fighter. Keep up the good work!" Eun tells me encouragingly.

I drop my spear onto the floor before sitting down beside it. I fiddle with my weapon while taking in a deep breath. I've been fighting these demons for so long, I think I've been going at it for at least a day with no break now. I honestly don't know how long I can keep something like this up…but I'll hold on and keep fighting…for you, Aren. I grip my spear and remember his teachings, my 'Falling Dragon' would have never had been this strong without his training.

"The advantage of inner training is that it impacts the level of damage toward the enemy. It heavily damages the inside of the enemy. The enemy can escape the direct attack but is impacted by the inner force of the blow, leaving them with immense shock and in a chaotic status." I remember him say.

At the time I acted clueless of what he was trying to tell me, however I know realize all that training I had with him has made me the capable fighter I am today. No matter how hard of a student or sister I was to you…you never gave up on me. That's why…I shall never give up on you, I will bring you back…I promise.

"Hmm…are you done?" I hear Eun groan impatiently.

Oh right, I forgot that you can read my every thought.

"Yeah, kind of boring to be truthful with you. Not much goes on in that head of yours."

Hey!

"Hehe! You know I'm only messing with you! There's a lot of things going on in your head actually, too much I sometimes think, even though you spend so much time just thinking about things…it's always had something to do with that brother of yours."

I miss him. It's almost too much to take in…that Aren has been turned to a demon. The ones we promised our village we would kill to maintain peace…yet…when I met him as demon it was like he was someone else completely. He acted like he couldn't care less about me. That's not the Aren I know. I must bring him back.

"How do you even know that he can be saved now? What if, in reality, your brother's transformation to Ran can never be changed…?"

I have faith.

"Ah...'faith'…one of the saddest and most confusing human emotions…faith and hope…I've yet to understand these bizarre feelings."

I cannot be discouraged. I have faith, I shall save Aren.

"Well, c'mon then. Time is precious; let us go kill some more demons. That should get your brother's attention for sure."

A happy grin spreads itself across my face as my body becomes filled with power and my hair turns white again. I immediately get up from the floor with my spear in my hand. I wander slowly out of the abandoned temple to find another spot where the demons will be attacking. Eun takes over my human body and swings the spear in my hand playfully.

"Let's see what else there is to crush." Eun's voice speaks out of my mouth.

* * *

"Prey Chaser!" I hear Lu giggle as she points both of her large, demonic claws forward and crashes into 'Berauk'. The Lizardman wizard jumps back and moans angrily as he rubs his stomach.

"Of course a lizard wizard had to come out of nowhere and attack us, All I wanted to do was have a drink from the nearby lake…Triple Shot!" I complain as I leap in front of the tired Lu and fire three shots at the recoiling wizard.

This is insane, what's going on? As soon as we reached this place the Elder Lizardman walked slowly up to us and kindly introduced himself before suddenly throwing magic at us. Something's wrong, I can clearly see it in his eyes. It's as though he's not in control any longer. I grip my Gunblades hard and roll behind Lu once I had fired two more bullets. She takes the lead again as she darts forward and tries to punch Berauk.

The Wizard shakes his head as though to get himself focused into the fight again, he raises his wooden staff and blasts a large fireball at Lu before she can land a hit on him. The fireball gets closer. Lu stares at the attack, her eyes wide open as she realizes she cannot move out of the way in time. Lu…I cannot allow you to be hurt!

"Flick Shot!" I yell as the fireball collides with my chest…phew…I jumped into the way just in time…

The bullet disk fires from my left Gunblade as I fall back from the force of the fireball. The bullet smashes into the surprised Wizard, ricocheting multiple times of Beruak before spinning around and hitting him again.

"T-Thanks, Ciel! That would have hit me for sure!" Lu shouts to me as she runs beside me. We dart to the ready Wizard, hoping to land another attack on him before he can charge his magic.

"Don't drop your guard, he's not done just yet." I say back to her as I point my Gunblades at Berauk.

"If we're to take him down for good…I think we'll need to attack him together! He is weakened now, if we hit him with our combined strength we'll have this fight in the bag!" She smiles confidently at me. I'm unsure if we need to do something like that…but if that's what Lu thinks we should do…

"Very well, let's do this." I reply as we close in on the Wizard.

Beruak shrieks and cries in an irritated voice as he swings his strange staff down. Lightning…? D-do I hear lightning?

Large, uncontrollable bolts of blue lightning begin to strike down at us, I sidestep again and again to dodge the bolts and Lu does the same. She urgently turns her head to me and nods.

"Now!" She commands as we both run straight at Berauk through the lightning.

"Soul Infest!" Lu shouts as I chuck as many energy grenades I can at the Wizard.

She leaps quickly into the air above me, she holds out her demonic claws in front of her and begins to release…smoke-like arrows? The strange arrows blasts itself right into my mid-air grenades, detonated them with an abnormally large explosion…it's so bright I have to cover my eyes. I wait until the explosion dies out and the sand firing through the air settles before I open my eyes and see Lu grinning as she sits comfortably on the unconscious Berauk. I give a short smirk as Lu laughs and I sheathe my Gunblades again. I rest my hands on my hips and sigh.

"That was way stronger of an attack than I thought. You were right. We should combine our powers more often, it'll take care of enemies a lot quicker I would say." I tell the smiling Lu.

"Not _all _the time, silly! Where's the enjoyment of a battle if you don't take your time?" Lu grins back.

"Seems our opinions on this matter differs a lot. Shall we take off again to the mines?"

Lu leaps off the chubby stomach of the Wizard, turns to stare admirably at the crushed bodies of the Lizardmen around us and cracks her demonic hands' knuckles.

"Yep, no time like the present!" She giggles.

_**"Yes, I agree. There really is no time like the present…but the present is kind of boring at the same time…wouldn't the future intrigue you two much more?"**_

The dark figure of a masked man carefully wanders to the startled Duo.

_**"Yes…the future…an incredible thing to see. Tell me, wouldn't you like to see yours…?"**_


	22. No 19: Draco, God Of Fire

**Name: **

**Draco. (No last name)**

**Class:**

**Fallen**

**Appearance: **

**Tall, soft and girl-like face, red eyes, long black hair with red lines of hair going through it. (can be mistaken as a female)**

**Attire: **

**Black leather jacket with a plain white shirt underneath, black trainers and blue jeans (Very simple human clothing)**

**Weapon:**

**A scythe called Veryx, made completely out of bright red flames. Can be summoned into Draco's hand whenever he wishes for it to be so.**

**Personality: **

**Easily angered, little patience, doesn't think things through, gullible, ruthless, doesn't care much for humans, only interested in becoming stronger and nothing less, has yet to feel kind emotions such as love.**

**Background: **

**Draco was one of the Greater Ones, the supreme beings known and worshipped as the creators of the world of Elrios. He didn't enjoy the ideas of making humans and believed that it had no point but the other Greater Ones went through with the idea without Draco's approval. Draco quickly calmed down and reluctantly accepted the existence of the race named "humans". He was known to be ruthless, and despised any kind of disrespect towards him or any other Greater One, because of this he hated wars as he viewed it as disrespect to the god's authority. He angrily argued with the other Greater Ones multiple times about the matter and suggested to wipe out humanity as the perfect solution. The other Greater Ones refused such a proposal and forbid Draco from ever doing anything of the sort however Draco's anger knew no bounds, he loathed the humans at war and decided to go against the rules and travel down to Elrios to end all of mankind, creating a human body for himself in the process to be able to travel to the world. He was confronted by a fighter with the ability to control time and space shortly after Draco had burnt down several buildings and was ultimately defeated. He is brought back to life by a mysterious cloaked man and is told that the El Search Party have been sent to finish off Draco since he kept a small part of his power left by pure will-power. Angered by the thought that his title of a god had been taken away from him he roams the world he and the Greater Ones created in hopes of not only crushing the El Gang but also hopefully regaining his godly power to destroy the world known as Elrios once and for all.**

* * *

"Do you want to talk about it at all?"

"No, I don't want to discuss it. Leave it be." Ciel replies to me as he walks in front of me, killing all the strange robots that come in our path with the shots from his Gunblades.

"C'mon, I know that mysterious man showed you something. I remember it perfectly, he froze my body with some kind of magic and pulled you away and showed you the 'future'. As your ally I have the right to know what you saw, don't I?" I question Ciel as I crush one of the machines in my left claw effortlessly.

"What he showed to me is not important, focus on the matter at hand. I've made a contract to follow your every command and you want to regain your status, that's all. Don't think about anything else, your goal always comes first. Triple Shot!" He replies to me as he jumps back, firing three blue blasts of energy from the Gunblades. The shots zoom and force their way straight through the robots' fragile armors. They fall to the ground in the mines before detonating, causing a red explosion.

"This is important too! I want to know, Ciel. Tell me now, I am your Master! Evil Claw!" I yell angrily as I summon a larger demon claw from the floor, it bursts out of the ground, violently grabs five of the robots and squeezes as hard as it can before the machines make a cracking noise and become nothing more than loose robot parts.

Ciel stares silently at the area of battle we were just in, he kneels over the parts of the machines that attacked us and analyzes them closely, as though he wasn't even listening to my words anymore. I feel my small face go red with rage, I glare hatefully as Ciel pretends to not notice.

"Considering their structure and quality of their armor it's probably safe to say that they were put together pretty quickly…but by whom I wonder…" He mutters to himself as he tightly holds a part of one of the robot's chest plate, staring at it intently.

"Ciel! Don't ignore me! As your master I absolutely demand you tell me what you saw, I command you!" I yell furiously at him, he lets go of the machine's part and stares silently at me. His expression slowly turns into a frown.

He turns himself away from me again and shakes his head.

"He pulled me away after he froze to another world, filled with large, blue cubes surrounding me. He told me he meant no harm and simply wanted to show me something, before I could say anything he lifted his hand and created a crack of energy in front of me. It was displaying something." He informs me.

"What was it displaying?"

"The future…it showed me that…" He begins to mumble.

The floor beneath us shakes uncontrollably; Ciel and I wave our arms frantically, struggling to maintain our balance. My tiny legs fail to and I tumble clumsily to the ground, Ciel stabs his right Gunblade into the floor and grabs tightly onto it to stop himself from falling. The massive figure leaps down from the sky and cracks the rocks and earth underneath itself as it reaches the ground. I quickly get up and stare at the gigantic machine, a large, green robot with sharp-looking hands and a single orange eye. Ciel lifts both of his Gunblades up and glares at the robot.

"You must be the one making all the noise." He says to the quiet machine.

The robot immediately raises both of its arms to the sky and sends multiple missiles upwards, Ciel watches calmly as the missiles turn around and directs its course back to the ground, to us. Ciel grips his Gunblades and fires seven shots at the missiles, detonating them both they reach us. He turns himself to me and strongly grabs my waist, staring intently into my eyes.

"W-what are you doing?" I ask him, surprised.

"There are three missiles left; I will not be able to hit them in time. You can claw your way through them, OK?"

I glare at the incoming missiles and nod my head to Ciel.

"Alright, I'll take care of them."

Ciel smiles kindly at me before swinging me upwards, throwing me high into the sky. I summon my demon claws once again, holding them in front of me as I dart towards them in mid-air like a missile myself. The second the missiles and I connect with each other the collision creates a blinding explosion, I'm thrown back as the missiles explode from my punch, I see Ciel leap into the air and catch me. Ciel lands to the ground with me in his warm arms.

"Nice work, I'll take care of the rest." He grins as he gently drops me and aims his Gunblades to the green robot.

"Strong Strike!" He shouts as his Gunblades blast a large, blue bullet that smashes right into the robot. Throwing it backwards forcefully.

"OK, let's do that move we were practicing to finish it off!" I laugh as I regain my composure.

Ciel turns around and grins at me as we both dash to the open robot, he glares at the machine with true motivation in his eyes.

"Right." He agrees.

We stand confidently besides each other as the robot gets up, I clench my demon claws and quickly gather up my magic. Ciel does it same. A great, blue circle materializes underneath the machine as Ciel and I let our inner magic burst outwards.

"Nether Shredder!" We both yell in synchronization as we summon several chains from our energy, it grabs the robot and holds it down. We use our power to create a demon hand, the same size as the machine, and force it to slam down to the robot.

The machine's robotic body immediately falls apart in front of us, Ciel turns and pats my head softly.

"We did it."

"Yeah, so tell me what you saw from that masked man." I command him.

"Forget it, Lu. I'm not ready yet, I'll tell you later when I'm ready. I promise." He gently promises me.

I fold my small arms and huffs, irritated. I glare at Ciel angrily.

"Fine, but you have to tell me soon." I tell him.

Ciel lets out a short-lived laugh and pats my head once again with a happy, calm look in his eyes. He grins as he looks at me.

"You're just too adorable when you're mad at me." He chuckles.

* * *

A wonderful thing, isn't it? Death…it's one of the important parts in the infinite cycle of life. It balances everything out, while life is made every day at the same time death is also made. Without death this world that we had created for beings to live in would have gotten out of control faster than we could have ever had anticipated. It's definitely a creation of ours to praise and appreciate, the others argued that we didn't need to create what is now known as death…that humans would be sensible, that we could always continue to make the world larger and larger…so that humans would never have to experience death and great losses. It was all thanks to me really, I refused to agree with the others point of view. I kept at it, I continued to tell them what would happen if we were foolish enough to allow death to not exist…that humans would be at war every second…that chaos would eventually grow and grow as their population grew. The others didn't want to believe it, they didn't want to accept the fact that their creations were weak, greedy and chaotic…however in the end they knew I was right and gave in to the truth. Without me they were like a bunch of foolish children, unable to understand the real world and its laws. I bestowed upon the world true order and laws, ones that balanced out the cycle of life itself. It was all thanks to me.

I introduced death to the world…yet…to think…I would have experienced it for myself…

Fate has a cruel way of messing with me, with messing with all of us. It always finds a way of coming around and biting you, making you regret your choices…even if it was the right one. So here I am, dead. At least, that's supposed to be the case…but…my consciousness hasn't faded away yet. I can clearly have thoughts in my mind, I can still talk to myself…I can still _think._ Why is that, I wonder? I don't believe death goes like that, though this is the first time I'm experiencing it firsthand. Death should have taken me long ago, my body and mind went numb, I had critical wounds on me, and all of them were fatal. I have a human body now…but it's not dying?

A greater being like me should never have to face death, I understand that all too well…but I traded my body for a human one. The kind of body that _should _die. It was a despicable act, one that made all the others lose all respect for me…but I couldn't give any less of a shit about their respect for me. They're cowards, all of them. They see the good in humans that simply just isn't there, they're blinded by their hopes and dreams for the humans to see just how much of monsters they are themselves. I knew I must have taken the initiative and travel to the world itself and introduce to them true power…so that they would never forget their place again. That wars and violence angered us, to show them that we are superior and we always will be.

And yet…for something like that…for something so noble and so thoughtful…they dared to punish me. Stripped me of my divine power, took away my body…the body of a god, took away my title and threw me into the world I was trying to fix. My powers are equal to theirs, my importance was equal to theirs…my very existence was equal to theirs!

However…if you pit one god to so many others…there is only one outcome. I lost, and everything I was and everything I could ever be was brutally taken away from me.

I carefully lift my eyelids as I lay uncomfortably on the rough table, bright, blinding lights strapped to the ceiling almost burns my eyes as I open them completely. I immediately swing my upper body up as I notice I'm surrounded. Yellow, rusty, broken-down machines shaped like humans stand silently around me in a group. Their engines quietly moving and working inside their beaten and cheap bodies. I glare at them all, they only continue to stare back…almost mindlessly. I cringe as I suddenly notice the pain emitting from my sore chest…the hole! The hole in my chest…I absolutely forgot! I frantically grab onto the strange, black, leather jacket that was somehow placed onto me and pull it off. Chucking it to the ground as I then quickly take off the simple white shirt underneath. My upper body is now bare, I stare curiously at my chest. It doesn't even have a scratch. I analyze my entire chest and stomach, I have no injures whatsoever…how on El is that possible…? I vaguely remember my last fight…it was against…a man with the ability to control time and space. I cannot remember his face anymore, neither why we were fighting. I can barely even remember what happened in the course of the fight, I can recall small parts of the entire fight that's it. I stare at the machines angrily as I leap off the steel table and pick up my clothes, a plain white shirt and a black jacket over it…I look at my lower body attire. A navy-blue jeans and black trainers…who even put these clothes on me? I know for a fact it couldn't be any of these machines silently watching me, I don't know if they even have actual _brains._ I turn my head around and stare at the insides of the building both the robots and I are currently in, there's construction everywhere…as far as the naked eye can see. I can spot in the distance large contraptions carefully building up the exact same robots surrounding me. I see…so this is a factory of some sort.

"Is he finally awake? Get out of my way you stupid little tin cans! Let me through!" I hear a tiny, frail voice scream at the back of the group of quiet robots. A smug-looking man forces his way to the front, glaring at me closely before speaking.

"Do. You. Understand. What. I'm. Saying?" The annoying little man asks me slowly, as though I'm an idiot.

"I understand you perfectly, mortal. You shall answer every one of my answers, nothing more and nothing less. If you don't comply I will kill you where you stand. Do you get it?" I snap, immediately scaring the man.

He nods the second I finish my sentence, he puts his hands to his sides and remains quiet. Good. Now to get some information from this fool.

"Are you the one that has brought me to this factory?"

"But I…" He begins to stutter.

"Yes or no only." I add quickly.

"…Yes." He answers me reluctantly.

"Did you find me in the middle of a destroyed village?"

"Yes."

"Was I dead when you found me?"

"But you see…"

"I told you to answer me with a yes or no only, did you already forget?" I hiss to him as he takes a step back, frightened half to death.

"Please, just let me explain! It's not something that can be answered with a yes or no! I'll explain how we found you and how you ended up here." He tells me, I allow a heavy sigh to be released from my mouth as I lean slowly against the table I was lying on.

"Very well, speak." I command the idiotic mortal.

"Well, you see…" He says as he starts to describe the event.

* * *

_Wally and his men dash through the mountains of organs, burnt-to-the-crisp bodies and smoke. The silly man and his followers force themselves deeper into the sounds of death and violence, blasts and lazers burst furiously around them. They were darting straight into the center of a battle, one that determines the future of the world for all humans, of course Wally had absolutely no clue what was transpiring close to them. The man named Wally only had one thing in his mind, to watch the fight unfold and take home his prize. Wally and his men quickly stop, surrounding by burning buildings and screams. The figure moving at the speed of a bullet shoots towards the surprised men, they cowardly duck and stare as the figure smashes against a wall and collapses._

"_Sir, one of them is down! Shall we do what we came here to do now?" One of Wally's followers asks._

"_No! Not yet, you fools! Wait just a little longer…the fight is almost over!" Wally giggles in delight as he crouches down and stares at the young, bleeding teenager. Body parts from the boy fling off him and onto the ground around them. Wally squints his eyes as he sees someone bounce or hop towards the defeated boy, a quiet man in a black, sleek cloak with weird blue patterns on it kneels with only half of his body next to the bleeding fighter. The strange man shakes his head and stares at the floor sadly._

"_I'm sorry." The man in the cloak whispers as the teenager's eyes swiftly close and his head flops downwards._

_Wally puts his hands over his mouth and screams into it, damn it all! All this afford to capture the boy and now he's dead?! Then what was the whole point?_

_The man in the cloak continues to kneel and say nothing more, Wally takes in a deep breath and whispers to his men to keep waiting and observe the situation. The cloaked man slowly begins to raise his blue hand, placed it on the dead boy's chest. Bright-blue light emits from the chest as sparks of energy zap and shoot out of the corpse , Wally's mouth drops in amazement as he witnesses the boy's body float in the air as the cloaked man stares at it. The man lifts the same hand once again as the body hovers above him, the amount of sparks bursting out from the corpse quickly increases and accelerates. The man stares as the sparks last a few seconds longer before completely dispersing, the body immediately drops like a ragdoll to the ground. The man glares as the hole in the boy's chest disappears along with his wounds, the cloaked man turns around and speaks once more._

"_I'm sorry," He says again._

_The man begins to wander away from the unconscious boy as he stares at his own blue hand. Multiple cubes materialize in the man's hand as he clenches them._

"…_this is the least I can do, Draco…" He finishes as he fades into the darkness surrounding the battle._

_Wally and his followers stare at the scene for a bit longer, making sure the cloaked man was gone for good, before they dart towards the boy's body, the men crouch over and observe the unconscious child. The engineer of the group kneels closer than the others and presses his two fingers onto the child's neck. The engineer stays in that position for a while before standing up and looking at Wally._

"_H-he's alive…Sir…I don't believe it. How did that man do it?" The engineer asks curiously. The rest of the men stare at Wally expecting him to have the answer. The leader sighs and shrugs._

"_I won't lie to you, I have no clue." Wally admits._

_One of them turns to their leader, Wally, and tilts his head._

"_Well, Sir…somehow the situation still went as planned. Do we take him?" The Big Soldier of the group of men asks his leader._

_Wally grins happily and laughs at the ridiculous question, he turns to and points at the child and glares at his men._

"_What do you think, you birdbrains? Of course we take him! There's no way we can afford to lose a catch like this!" The leader cackles as he signals to his men to pick up the body and take it with them. The men do as their told and lift the body before marching forward back to the factory, their leader following slowly behind them, in deep thought._

_That cloaked man…the man called the child Draco. Such a powerful fighter that created so much destruction and is called Draco? There's only one person the child could be, and if the suspicion of the leader was correct they had made the biggest catch of them all…they would have the ultimate being by their side. A god._

* * *

I glare, irritated at the man named 'Wally' as he finishes his story, so that's his explanation? The man I fought killed me then decided to bring me back to life with sparkly magic?! That was a foolish, silly story if I ever heard one…however he's the one that brought me here, I have no choice but to believe him. I stop leaning against the table and stare angrily at Wally.

"That's the whole thing in a nutshell." Wally ends.

"I see, I shall be taking my leave now. That isn't a problem, is it?" I ask threateningly.

"No, of course not! Go ahead." He smiles as he points to the small exit from the smelly factory.

"Good." I grin as I fast-walk towards the door. Wally smiles as he motions his arms to an electronic screen, an extremely smug look at his face.

"Actually, I forgot to tell you _one _last thing. Something that would be great help to you if you're planning on leaving this place." He tells me happily.

"Speak." I command him.

The man named Wally says no more and simply signals to me to observe the computer screen installed into a wall beside him, I glare at the image as I see the screen playing the point of view of a large robot of some sort, it's in an intense battle with a red-haired human kid with weird-looking fighters following behind him. I watch as the robot slowly falls, the group of fighters catch their breath and begin to discuss something. The boy shakes his head, wanders over to the screen and punches it, ending the video. I glare hardly at Wally and shrug my shoulders.

"So?" I ask, uninterested in what I had just witnessed.

"Those kids have been at my heels for the past month, they've been destroying my creations. One by one. They most definitely _look_ weak however you mustn't under estimate their abilities, they're far stronger than any other fighters."

"And why is that?" I question, slightly interested in the subject now.

"Because you're here. You're the god of fire, your name is Draco, is it not?" He grins even further. I cannot help but grin back.

"You know more than I thought." I snicker, amused of Wally's knowledge.

"I've done my research, I know everything about you…and since you've now come to earth I presume you are no longer a god?"

"Correct. My title was taken from me. You saved me, the least I can do is tell you that much." I admit.

A look flashes in his eyes, it's not a look I've ever seen before. It's not one I can probably explain, it was a smile of some sort…a smile filled with something. With hope? With happiness?

...With evil?

"Well, I'll give you _your_ answer. Those children are stronger than any other fighters because they are the Greater Ones' chosen ones. I would deduce that you've still got some of your power and the Greater Ones have sent these fighters to end you once and for all?"

To take down such a large piece of metal, to crush a robot like that…I can sense it. I don't know how, it's some sort of gut feeling…I haven't had one before. Whenever I watched humans in this world use the saying of "gut feeling" I would give a confused smile, I was completely unable to comprehend such emotions however now…I believe I'm feeling it. Something about staring at them, the team of fighters…it gives me a sickening feeling in my stomach, as though their existence shouldn't be so. This gut feeling, it must mean something. So you'd dare send fighters…human fighters to kill me? Well, too bad for you I was able to keep a small portion of my power, huh? You want me to face these mortals? Very well. I shall be a god once again…_even if I have to burn down this entire world while doing it!_

Flames burst angrily out of my human body, curling and dancing around me in a blaze, sizzling and twirling on my flesh. I continue to increase the amount of flames on myself until I become a literal walking ball of flames. The fire picks me off my feet until I'm levitating, I laugh as loud as I can as I hover to the exit. I turn around and stare at the startled Wally.

"You want those pests dead? Consider it done." I cackle as I open the door of the factory's exit.

"Wait!" Wally cries to me as I slowly fly away.

I continue to open the door wide but I stay in my position as he requests. He looks at me nervously and rubs his hands.

"I always wanted to ask this question…is there…is there a heaven…?" He asks me.

"Yes, there is."

"And is there a hell?"

What an amusing question, I owe him an honest answer. The answer that I shall make sure is true very soon. I don't turn around and hover outside as I chuckle back to him. I raise my human hand and summon my flame-engulfed scythe. So, Veryx hasn't left me either. My trusty weapon, they couldn't even take that away from me. I swing it around, laughing as I watch the lingering fire on the scythe follow as the scythe moves around. My eyes begin to burn, flames carefully blazing off of them, I turn around and laugh at Wally and give him his precious answer.

"_No, but there soon will be." _


	23. No 20: Unfinished Business

**Hello all! Ready for the next chapter? :D So Valentine's day was here not so long ago, that was pretty fun ^^ I hope everyone spent some quality time with their loved ones! I know I did. This chapter took slightly longer than I expected since I've had some family members over, things were pretty busy for me. Thanks to everyone for your support so far! Also, about class changes! They'll be in the story, don't worry about that. If there's a class you really wish to see then please tell me either on PM or the review page to support your favourite class and hopefully to see them! :D **

**Special thanks to Lamker and shikigi for following this story, you two are the best~!**

**Now then, let us move onto the next chapter! **

"We've done as you asked." I inform the purple-haired man as Lu and I slowly approach him near his accessory shop, he raises an eyebrow and grins.

"Yes…I could tell. There hasn't been any more noise since I last saw the both of you, well done! You're strength far exceeded my expectations, just who are you two anyway?" He questions us curiously as he stares at us from head to toe.

Lu shrugs her miniature shoulders, stretches out her arms and allows a small sigh to be released from her tiny lips.

"That doesn't matter. You remember your promise to us, right? Well, spill the beans. Where can we find the demons that are invaded?" Lu asks the once-again grinning, purple-haired man. He lifts his right hand and smiles happily as he sees his jewelry sparkle in the sun's light, he grins at the both of us before kindly replying.

"A place called 'Sander', a merchant town. It's located in the southern continent: Fluone. It's quite a sandy village just like ours however luckily for you two it's not nearly as boiling as this one. I've prepared a small map for you while you've been gone to show you the way. You'll have to pass through many other villages to get to Sander, with plenty of demons roaming in them too. I'm not entirely sure _why _you want to travel straight to demon territory when many other people are trying their best to get _away _from those places but hey; I'm not one to judge." He speaks to the both of us as he gently hands to us a brown piece of paper, the map. I grab it quickly from his hands, pull out my journal from my pocket and slide the map into it.

Lu glares questionably at me as I do so, she cutely raises her left eyebrow and gives me a look.

"Just what was that I just saw? Do you…do you have a book with you?" She questions me suspiciously.

"Yes, I do. I use it daily to record the events that transpire on our journey, it's essential for memory." I sniff as I frantically place the book back in my pocket along with the map and begin to walk away from her.

"You…you have a diary…? You honestly have a diary with you?" Lu hesitates to ask, she lowers her head and puts her hands over her mouth and begins to annoyingly giggle at the thought of such a thing. The purple-haired man's grin becomes even wider as he turns his head away and strongly struggles to hold his laughter within himself.

"It's not a diary! It's just a journal! Something to record the events of the day, I don't keep a diary!" I yell at the giggling pair as my face's colour reaches the colour as a tomato, I cannot believe I'm blushing about something like this. It's nothing to be ashamed of!

"Whatever you say~" Lu cheekily says as she begins to calm herself down from her laughter.

I swing my body around and look away from them, I angrily shove my hands into my pockets and start to sulk away. Lu turns to the purple-haired man and begins to whisper quietly to him, I turn my head and peek. They're not laughing or giggling, it looks like they're having a serious conversation over there. I wonder what they're speaking about. I suppose I should just wait for Lu to end whatever she's saying…

Lu wanders over to me with a large, cheeky grin on her as marches in front of me. She gets onto her tip-toes, grabs my hand and begins to pull me away. I turn back and look at the accessory seller to see a glimpse of him kindly waving farewell.

"What was that about, Lu? What did you two discuss while I was waiting?" I question her as we fast-walk through the village and sand.

"Well, I spoke to Richian about where we could-" She begins to explain quickly to me.

"Who's Richian?" I interrupt.

"The accessory shop owner we were just speaking to. I spoke to him about where we could stay for a while until we're ready to leave this village." She informs me.

"And?"

We reach a large, white shack covered in sand and dust. I glare quietly at the building as Lu steps in front of me, waves her hands in the air and says 'Ta-da!'. I heave a heavy sigh, turn to look at Lu with an unamused stare on my face. Lu's smile disappears as I do so.

"What?" She asks, surprised.

"Richian said we could stay here…?"

"Well, yes…"

"You mean you want me to continue to remain in this unbearable heat instead of moving on to Sander?"

"That's because I want to take a nap." She grins happily to me.

"That's the _only _reason you want to stay in this dreadful desert? Because you need to take a nap?"

Lu dashes to the door, pulls it open and darts inside the sandy shack.

"Yup! And when I wake up I expect a delicious breakfast, servant!" She giggles as she disappears inside, leaving me to sulk and reluctantly step inside the beaten-down excuse of a house. Good thing I have some herbs I collected earlier, I could definitely use these to make an enjoyable meal for Lu.

"_Heh, this is obviously over. You pathetic, revolting creatures can look forward to when I rip out your useless, bloody heart and hold it in front of you! Energy Boom!" The Tracer cackles with happiness and excitement as he observes the spurting, gushing pool of blood blasting his way from the brutally-slaughtered victims. He flicks his hand, summoning a hologram from his dynamos while grinning amusingly to the bodies of the ones who attacked him._

"_Let's see now, how the El did I get stuck down in this filthy, damp sewer anyway? Dynamo! Search through data and select the map!" The Tracer angrily commands his invention as it listens, doing exactly as he had furiously requested. The Tracer glares, annoyed as he scans the holographic map that the Nasod Dynamos had created earlier._

"_That forest I was stuck in…the village I had secretly entered…everything's here, I don't understand how the hell I got lost in this disgusting place. I should find a way out of way, now." The Tracer mutters madly to himself as he steps onto the corpses he had killed, not making any effort whatsoever to avoid walking on them._

_The Tracer's eyes widen and his grin returns, larger than ever before. He giggles happily as he watches the anxious bandit yell worriedly at his fellow bandits. An unmistakable scar on his face, that large, wooden sword in this hand…and that smug look stuck on his ugly face as usual even when he's worried about something._

"_What do you idiots mean you let someone into the new hideout?! We literally just got into this underground waterway! What did he look like?" Banthus quickly and frantically questions one of the surviving bandits of the Tracer's onslaught on his way to the place._

_The little soldier carefully holds his broken, bloody right leg. He looks sadly and weakly at his boss as he whimpers at the thought of what he went through earlier. He shakes his head cowardly and tries to hide his deep tears._

"_It…it was hell…he blasted through our defenses way faster than we could react. All I could see through the destruction was zapping, electrical attacks in the chaos…and…" The injured soldier trails off._

"_And what?" Banthus the bandit pushes, trying to squeeze every last bit of information on the intruder. He grips the bandit's fragile shoulders and begins to shake him, desperately wanting the rest of the description._

"_There was…a single, glowing purple eye…and unforgettable smile…it's all I could see as I heard the screams of the other guys…" He whispers to Banthus as grimaces from the pain in his dying body._

_The large, smug bandit takes a step back and glares anxiously at his followers, he quickly shakes his head again and again, refusing to believe that the description could mean…he…was coming. The bandit glares a while longer before breaking down into a worry-filled laugh. _

_No way, there's not a single chance. No way could that boy from the forest have found him a third time, that's completely impossible! Banthus had watched as the Ancient Phoru closed in on the child, ready to attack. Not even that creepy kid could have beaten that beast and made his way to Elder. No…it's absolutely impossible. The bandit regains his bossy composure and grins smugly again. He couldn't seem weak to anyone, he was the mighty Banthus!_

"_Hahaha! Well, it doesn't even matter who he is or how strong he might seem. I'll crush him with this new Nasod power I've obtained from Wally and end the intruder once and for all!" He shouts with confidence and pride as lifts his arms into the air, the fellow bandits get their confidence back from the boss' speech and cheer at the mighty Banthus._

_The Tracer smiles, amused at what he had just watched. They obviously had no idea of his true capability. The child walks into the centre of the bandits' base, striding excitedly at the startled group of thieves. The Tracer lifts his hand and watches happily as purple electricity surges strongly around it, the Tracer's eye glows brighter and brighter with his never-dying insanity. His grin growing without an end, reaching his face from ear to ear. _

_The boy steps forward to Banthus and his overwhelmed and terrified pack of bandits. The Tracer's eyes scan Banthus' arm, his grin somehow growing even further in the process, he glares at the new arm of Banthus before putting his hand to his face and laughing as hard as he possibly could._

"_Kehehahahaha! I knew that the Nasod race hadn't completely been wiped out! Even so far into the future and the damned race is still around, how bloody brilliant! I'll shred you and your fellow weaklings to bits and take whatever is left of that arm!" He exclaims mid-way through his frightening laugh. The smaller bandits hesitate and take a few steps back, unsure with they could best someone with so much power emitting from them. Banthus forces a fake smile on his scarred face._

"_You want this arm? Come and get it, I'll take you down for sure this time!" The large bandit laughs back, filled to the brim with false confidence from the Nasod power surging through him._

_The Tracer grins with amusement and inquisitiveness, that bandit called Banthus had already seen the power that the Tracer possesses yet he is asking for more, with such pride at that. Is the Banthus the bandit that courageous…or simply just too stupid to realize when he is bested?_

_The white-haired boy wastes no more time. He immediately leaps onto his hovering Nasod Dynamos and darts towards the group of bandits, he swings back his right leg and grins at the scared lot. Power blasts and circles around him as he manipulates the electrical currents with his feet, he kicks his right leg forward, a giant burst of electricity following quickly after it. The blast smacks straight into the retreating pack of bandits as they try their very best to get out of the way. _

_Their wonderful blood explodes out of them and gushes around the entire base, staining the walls beside the Tracer and Banthus. The one surviving bandit crawls with no legs attached to himself, blood spurting out rapidly from his ripped ear. The Tracer cackles with delight at the sight of the foolish attempt to get away, the boy wanders over to blood-soaked bandit, a large and excited grin on the child's face. The bandit weakly and pathetically lifts his bloody head and stares sadly at the incoming monster._

"_Please…don't kill…me." He begs and whimpers, blood gurgling in his mouth as he speaks. The Tracer puts his heel to the bandit's head and allows his laughter to fill the entire hideout._

"_What was that? I couldn't quite hear you!" He giggles happily as he rests his whole foot down on the begging bandit._

"_I said…please-" _

_Before the bandit could let out another plea to the Tracer the child presses his foot down completely, grinning at the delightful feeling of crushing someone's skull. A shiver of pleasure dancing its way up the Tracer's spine, he turns to Banthus with the smile still intact. Blood drenched all over with white jacket, his left eye flickering with the familiar, sinister, purple glow that had kept the bandit called Banthus awake at night in disturbing fear. Banthus frantically takes multiple steps back as the Tracer marches happily to him, the bandit's eyes go wide as he realizes that there is no place to go. The bandit clenches his Nasod arm's hand and stares, frightened as the Tracer closes in on him._

"_Just…just what the hell are you, kid?" He questions the smiling child with fright, his teeth rapidly clicking together with terrible fear._

_The Tracer stops in his tracks, he glares wordlessly at the petrified, giant bandit as his insanity-filled grin disappears. The boy wonders about the answer to Banthus' final question, the boy drops his head and stares at the wet ground beneath himself. Who and what was he…? Just a child? No, of course not. A monster? Perhaps…however…_

_The Tracer's grin returns in an instant, the Tracer laughs as he raises his skinny hand. Electrical currents surge around him with glee as he gathers all the energy that he can from the Nasod Dynamos. His left eye glowing brighter than ever before. The Tracer opens his smiling mouth and cackles the last words the bandit shall ever hear, the sentence that will strike so much fear into him that it will follow him into the afterlife._

"_I am…Add…the Tracer. Neutron Bomb!" Add cackles as directions a magnetic pull to the centre of the bandit's ribcage and allows a large explosion to emit from it, destroying Banthus' insides. Add swings his head back and allows one last laugh to be released from his lips. He steps onto the newly-made corpses and kneels down to observe the Nasod technology._

"_Keh…to pursue this 'Wally' and hopefully find more codes for the Nasod Dynamos…or to pursue that voice that told me he could help to complete my work to manipulate time and space itself…? I didn't think I'd have to decide…" Add mutters to himself, annoyed at the fact that he has to make a choice on the situation. Add flicks his left hand once again and glares silently at the time travel formula he had installed into the dynamos. It was incomplete but…to get everything back…_

_This choice was going to haunt Add either way._

The El Search Party hurry their way through the smoke and chaos, the lingering smell of fire blazing around them frantically. Elsword coughs heavily as they travel deeper into the cloud of smoke ahead. The Knight turns his head back as he runs and looks at his following team.

"I know this is the secret entrance to Wally's castle and all but…what in El is William doing here?" Elsword questions the gang, confused as they chase after the retreating Phorus. The Guardian struggles to keep up as he carries his heavy Destroyer behind himself.

"I have no clue, however it's safe to assume that they're here to do what they were doing in Ruben; stealing. We _must _stop him once and for all." Chung replies back as he pants strongly.

"We wouldn't even have to deal with him now if it wasn't for some idiot…" Aisha mutters angrily as she glares at Elsword, the Knight turns away, irritated, and speeds up the pace. Rena the Elf smiles happily at all of them and shrugs carelessly.

"Well, now that he's here we've got to take him down for good. Wally's reign of terror has to end here, we cannot let the people of Elder down…they're counting on us…on all of us to save them from the continuous destruction." Rena speaks to the rest of the El Search Party calmly and sweetly, the gang look at her and nod their heads in synchronization. They understand what they're here for and how important this is, many people are putting their faith in the team…and the El Search Party would never let the innocent down.

Elsword and the team quickly come to a screeching halt, they stare confidently at the group of cornered. A very familiar one in the middle, with a new, brown vest around him. William steps forward, his knees shaking terribly as he raises his small sword at the gang.

"T-t-this time…I'm ready for you guys! Bring it on! Us Phorus can never be defeated, we will steal anything precious and valuable…we can't be stopped!" He exclaims cowardly as he darts towards the Knight, Elsword turns and looks at the gang. He grips his Great Sword and readies himself to engage William's incoming attack.

"I'll take care of William, you guys take care of the rest of the Phorus!" Elsword commands loudly as he leaps back and blocks William's blow with the Great Sword, the others immediately nod their head and run towards the Kid Phorus as they hold sticks as weapons in their strange hands.

"Multiple Stinger!" Rena cries as she holds her position and lets out two rounds of a three-way Rail Stingers, the giant arrows dart to the terrified Phorus, throwing them all of their feet.

The Guardian carefully watches the Elf's attack before rushing into the battle in his Siege Shelling position. He holds his cannon in front of himself, directing the front of the Destroyer that releases the missiles towards the fallen Phorus. Blue missiles with a depiction of a skull on it rocket towards them, causing mini explosions among contact. The remaining Phorus cry with true fear of the gang and dash away from the fight, leaving their stolen goods from Elder behind. Aisha smiles calmly and breathes a sigh of relief, her eyes suddenly widen as she hears a cry of pain from Elsword. The Mage, Elf and Guardian quickly turn their heads worriedly and watch as the Knight falls back from the barrage of attacks from William the Phoru. Phoru swings down to the Knight, Elsword grimaces as he hops to the right, just barely dodging the attack. William turns around and swings his sword even harder, the attack smacks against Elsword's Great Sword as the Knight attempts to block it, throwing Elsword clean off his feet. Aisha screams with fright as she watches William close in on Elsword, she quickly finishes charging up her magic and dashes towards the Phoru before he can finish his final blow to the Knight.

"Chain Fireball!" She yells loudly at William as she holds her magic staff in front of her and casts three consecutive fireballs. The fireballs crash into William, throwing him back. The Phoru shrieks in fright as he waves his arms around, trying to get the fire off of his skin. The Knight quickly gets up and lifts his Great Sword once again.

"Unlimited Blade!" He cries confidently as he rushes forward and slashes several times with incredible speed, so fast that the watching eyes of the El Search Party cannot keep up. The Knight slashes multiple more times, turning the few hits into a rampaging combo attack. William cries in agony as the light-speed slashes cut through him brutally, Elsword stops the rapid attacks and lifts his sword to deliver the final blow, he raises the Great Sword and swings downwards with all of the strength he can muster. William crashes hard into the ground beneath him, cracking the floor. The gang stare in awe as Elsword puts down his weapon and wipes the drops of sweat off of his forehead.

"Wow," Chung manages to mutter at Elsword, the Knight shrugs and smiles happily.

"Heh, Sis taught me that. It definitely took a while to get down but I guess it was worth it. Nice work guys! We've taken down the robbing Phorus with no problem, now it's time to defeat Wally and return peace to Elder!" He announces to the El Search Party with absolute pride, Aisha wanders over to the Knight and taps his back.

"Hey," She hisses to Elsword.

"Huh? What?"

"You still haven't said thank you for saving your butt back there."

"What? Saving _my _butt? I didn't need you or your magic at all, I was doing fine!"

"Doing fine?! William would have killed you if I didn't step in!" The Mage yells furiously at the Knight. The two ramble on and continue to argue, Chung shakes his head and begins to reload the Destroyer's cannonballs. Rena the Elf smiles happily as she watches the two kids argue, it was one of the most adorable things she could ever witness.

Rena brushes her long, beautiful green hair as she stares out to the bright-blue sky and sighs. The gang aren't finished just yet.

Now it was time to take down Wally.

_The servant wanders over to his Master, holding his favourite blue cubes in his palm as he carelessly plays with them. He lifts his head and glares at the silent Master, he has been extremely quiet for a very long time. The vision he saw must still be haunting him, how pathetic. Draco should be the Master's least concern right now. The servant walks away and stares excitedly as the Taker continues to command his followers to cause more and more chaos in Velder, the man occasionally jumping off his airship and slaughtering the people himself. The Nasod Arm was quickly adapting and evolving to the never-ending violence that it was being used for._

_**Raven the Taker…the taker of lives…what a fitting title for such a man. The time has almost come, I see that the chosen boy has quickly been ripping down every obstacle in his way. Good, that's very good. Continue down your path Add, my creation…no…Raven is ready for you.**_


	24. No 21: A Good Morning

**Hey everyone! I'm back once again~! C: How are you all doing? This is the next chapter for you, not that much action in this one. We need some breaks from fighting every now and then, right? :D**

**Little notice: The next chapter shall be completely from Add's perspective…and I'm sure you know why. A serious fight is coming up! C:**

**Special thanks to Temen and PurpleGuysPonytail for following and/or putting this story in their favourites, you two are the best~! C:**

* * *

Lu crawls tiredly out of her soft, fluffy bed. She pulls herself from underneath her pink blanket and squints painfully as the bright light of the sun emits from the window. Lu raises her hands and carefully rubs her sleepy eyes; she turns her head and looks at her bed. Ciel's Gunblades were rested to the side of the bed; Lu sits up and admires her girly pajamas. She didn't know why…but she felt as though she had been asleep for years, she opens her small mouth and lets out a well-needed yawn before sliding off her bed and standing up.

She carelessly snaps her tiny fingers, changing her clothes from her pajamas to her ordinary attire in an instant; Lu scratches her back and looks around the bedroom for her servant. He was nowhere to be seen. Lu gives another yawn and calls for Ciel.

"Ciel? Where are you?" She questions loudly, filling the small house with her adorable voice. She gets no response. She sighs, irritated.

A fresh, wonderful, mouthwatering scent fills her nostrils, Lu smiles excitedly at the incredible fragrance that she had smelt. The smell quickly spans across Lu's entire bedroom, Lu breathes in more of the delicious smell and giggles with happiness. She skips around to the door to her room with glee.

'What is that amazing smell? Food? I could really go for something like that right now, I can already hear and feel my stomach rumbling terribly. This great smell…I have to find out what it is…' The demon child thinks hungrily to herself as she exits her room and wanders to the location of the wondrous scent of food.

She darts over to the door to the kitchen and swings it open in a hurry. Ciel turns around, startled as the kitchen door makes a loud noise while opening. Lu's face immediately changes from a casual one to a confused one as she looks at the sight in front of her, Ciel has a spatula in one hand and a large spoon in the other. He's wearing a white apron over his normal clothes as he stands beside an old cooker with pots and pans scattered on it, he looks at me and eventually gives a gentle, kind smile and says 'Yo,' cooly to her. Lu looks surprised as she walks over to stand next to him.

"What are you doing in the kitchen…dressed like that?" She asks her servant curiously as she stares at the pans resting on the cooker, Ciel shrugs and smiles at Lu once again.

"You asked for a good breakfast, did you not?"

Lu's stomach rumbles even harder than before, being closer to the great smell must have made her even hungrier. She rubs her tummy and nods her head in agreement.

"Yeah, I'd really love a breakfast. I could eat anything right now."

Ciel grins at his master before shaking his head and going back to stirring the food in the pots and pans, he waves a hand at Lu.

"Well, you're going to have to be patient. Sit on that wooden table over there, breakfast shall be ready in just a bit, OK?"

"Fine," She huffs impatiently as she leaps onto one of the wooden chairs next to the table in the kitchen. Lu rests her head on the table before speaking again.

"So, what are you making for me anyway…?"

"Something that I think you're going to like, I grabbed many different ingredients on our journey so far that now I have plenty to make multiple different dishes that you can enjoy. For now I'm preparing some cookies for you with some dough and other necessities from the bags that the Lizardmen dropped."

"Do you…like cooking? You sound quite enthusiastic about the whole food thing all of a sudden, you know."

"I always did it in my spare time, it was a guilty pleasure of mine to be honest."

"Whenever you weren't killing people?"

"Yes…"

Ciel becomes completely silent after Lu's last remark, Lu lifts her head off the table and looks at her servants quiet, regretful figure as he continues to prepare the girl's breakfast in absolute silence. Lu scratches the back of her small head with sudden irritation as she realizes that the entire subject of his past is something he doesn't enjoy talking about, the Demon Lord decides to change the subject to make her servant talk again.

"It is good though, that you can cook. I can get hungry quite a lot, it's comforting to know that there is someone to make breakfast, lunch and dinner for me whenever and wherever I may need it. I'm very glad to have made you my servant, you know. Good thing you felt sorry for me when I lost my memory, we might have never made the contract otherwise!" Lu ends with a small laugh, Ciel doesn't turn his head back to look at her as he joins the laugh with his fake chuckle.

'Does she know the real reason I took care of her? I hope not, she'd be madder than ever before at me. I cannot let her know my weakness…of cute things. Never.' He says to himself in his thoughts as the laugh dies out, he looks suspiciously at the waiting Lu. She gets up from the wooden chair in a hurry and tugs Ciel's sleeve as he continues to bake the cookies. Ciel almost jumps with fright of the girl's sudden movement, Lu brings her small, cute face close to her servant's and stares strongly at him. Ciel's face quickly goes red.

"Ciel…there's something really important I need to ask of you."

Lu puts her face even closer to Ciel's, he can feel his heart rate skyrocketing.

"W-what is it…?"

Lu closes her eyes and shakes her head, Ciel gulps as he waits for her question anxiously.

"…Why are you burning the cookies?" She finally asks innocently, Ciel's eyes widen as he notices the cookies turn a blackish colour, he yelps with sudden fear as he frantically moves his hands and fingers around the oven underneath the cooker. Sweat quickly shoots down his face, he turns off the oven and sighs in relief to himself.

'Geez, that was far too close. I actually thought for a second there that she might have figured my weakness out. Haha, I shouldn't be so paranoid…'

"Alright, Lu. Get on the chair now, I'll bring the cookies." Ciel says kindly as he pulls the tray of cookies out of the oven. Lu obeys.

"Aren't they burnt now?" Lu asks as she quickly sits back on the wooden chair.

"No, luckily not. You told me just in time,"

Ciel walks over to the wooden table his master was sitting at, he holds the tray in his right hand like a professional butler which makes Lu giggle uncontrollably. He fancily places the tray of cookies onto the table and takes a little bow for Lu, making her giggle even more. She grabs a Lizardman-shaped cookie off the tray and looks at Ciel, Ciel smiles and does a short wink as Lu takes her first bite of the cookie.

"Enjoy," He says to his master kindly as she gobbles up every cookie that he had made on the tray.

* * *

The Red Knights gasp and pant as they restlessly continue to attack the large figure of darkness, their men keep getting thrown back from the devastating blows from their superior enemy. The White Colossus raises his black Destroyer as he blasts multiple red missiles to the air and watches emotionlessly as the Knights cry and scream in agony, the Red Knights fall back in a small group…they are the only ones left of the thousands of Knights that were sent to Hamel.

Their leader steps forward and stares angrily as the White Colossus reloads his massive weapon, the leader looks back at his injured soldiers as they hold each other up and whimper weakly at their wounds. The leader grips his sword and shakes his head, accepting the inevitable truth that was clear to see, none of them were going to make it home alive.

This would be their final mission, the leader raises his sword to the sky and yells out his loudest victory cry, the other soldiers lift their heads and weapons too. They knew as well as their captain that this is definitely it for them, but they didn't care in the slightest. They smiled knowing that they did their very best to protect Hamel and the rest of Elrios, the soldiers close their eyes and see their life flash before their eyes. They see their home, peacefully waiting for them. They see their dear families, smiling and waving to them, waiting hopefully for their return. They see the world of Elrios itself, they hope that their efforts won't be in vain.

The White Colossus watches silently as the brave soldiers charge straight towards him, he points the heavy Destroyer at them and charges up the final missile that shall be needed to end this. The Colossus tilts his head slightly and feels…confused and unsure inside. These soldiers knew that they stood no match whatsoever, so why run straight into the attack that shall kill them? The White Colossus couldn't understand and comprehend these actions, and as the Knights yelled and cried as their body and armour exploded the Colossus turned around and stared at the waters of Hamel.

He shakes his head dismissively and slowly wanders away from the piles of dead Red Knights he had made, the emotions and actions of the ones attempting to stop him was…bothering him. He couldn't understand them, no matter how hard he tried.

No fighter yet had stood a chance against him, he didn't even have to try that hard to kill them all. It took no effort from him…yet they would keep coming…they never lost their courage or their determination. They knew they couldn't possibly beat him, yet they tried their best anyway…was their attacks filled with their never-dying emotions and feelings towards Hamel's safety? The voices in the White Colossus' head command him to stop thinking about the subject and the Guardian obeys obediently as he directs his Destroyer to a building and fires five cannonballs, obliterating it completely. The White Colossus didn't understand emotions but he also didn't need to, more destruction was all he could afford to think about now.

A blast of flames from behind sends the White Colossus staggering backwards, he turns his head to see one last Red Knight still alive. The White Colossus howls to the sky and walks quickly towards the Knight with fire, the Knight rests her Claymore onto her shoulder and grins confidently as the Colossus fires a barrage of red, explosive missiles at her.

"Alright then, let's see if you're really as strong as they say." The red-haired Knight giggles excitedly to herself as she darts straight towards the incoming missiles from the White Colossus.

* * *

"Let's go, Lu. Finish up your breakfast and come to the door." Ciel calls out to the eating Lu as he walks into her bedroom and grabs his two Gunblades, Lu shouts from the kitchen that she would be done with the cookies in a minute. Ciel shakes his head and smiles as he reaches the door to the house and leans against a wall waiting for Lu to finish. He feels his tired eyelids with his fingers and senses that he didn't have enough sleep. That only makes sense…since the servant couldn't sleep at all.

He had tossed and turned for hours in his bed in the room next to Lu's bedroom, trying his best to get some well-needed rest…but he simply couldn't…the image he had seen earlier was now permanently burnt into his mind…and it wasn't going to give him sleep any time soon. The image that the strange man had showed him…the image that he called the 'future'…could it really be true? Could the things he had saw really come true?

Lu walks over to her thoughtful servant as she puts her shoes on and leaves the house, she turns around, with bits of the cookie she had ate still around her mouth, and looks curiously at the quiet Ciel.

"Hey, are you coming or what?"

"Hm? Yeah…yeah I am. Sorry…" He replies in a daze.

"…Is something wrong? Something bothering you?"

Ciel stares at the innocent Lu, he could tell her here and now of the image that kept him asleep all this time…but he simply didn't have it in him. The image surely couldn't be the future…there's no way things could turn out that way. The butler holds his Gunblades confidently in his hands and begins to walk beside his master.

"No, it's nothing."


	25. No 22: The Tracer and the Taker Part 1

**Hey everyone! I'm back with the next chapter! C:**

**Just something important for you guys: This "chapter" shall be split into two parts just because I don't want the chapter to be too long and mush it into one chapter and because this part of the story will be kind of lengthy. Sorry for any inconvenience!**

**And we've finally hit 5000+ views on this story, thank you all so much! Just reading this story means a lot! C:**

**As for questions about romance in the story: There definitely will be some of that, but not yet. I want to develop the story a bit more before anything like that, but it will happen! C:**

**Thanks to anyone who has followed/favourited this story so far! :D **

**Now that all of that is out of the way, let's move onto the next chapter~!**

* * *

Add grips the piece of Nasod technology happily in his hands before chucking it into the Dynamos' PC hologram. The hologram engulfs the entire piece and begins to commence the experiment that the Tracer had installed into it just minutes before, Add grins with absolute excitement as a question box appears on the hologram. Add leans closer to the hologram and stares at the question.

"**START OPERATION**?"

Add glares with his purple-glowing eye at the 'yes or no' buttons on the screen before swinging his head back and releasing a large, insanity-filled laugh as he looks at the question.

"What a retarded question! What do you think, you piece of garbage?! Of course I want to start the experiment! Kahahaha!" He shrieks with joy as he continues to laugh, the Nasod Dynamos take the answer from its master as a 'yes' and begins to run the codes of the experiment in its system. The Nasod piece from the bandit called 'Banthus' and other metallic materials in the waterway, that Add was stuck in earlier, hover in mid-air in front of the Tracer as it slowly starts to spin around each other frantically as more purple-coloured electricity forces itself into the flying, floating scraps. Add watches the experiment happen with glee, amused as the pieces carefully disintegrate and disappear, causing a darker purple light to appear in its place. The Tracer's left eye glows more and brighter as the dark purple shield-like power emits from the hovering hologram proceeding with the experiment.

Light blasts crazily as the floating pieces spin faster and faster, the electricity from the hologram holding the Nasod piece quickly becomes unstable and fires out multiple shockwaves out of it, completely obliterating the surroundings of the cave the Tracer was standing in. Add's big smile eventually turns into a confused frown as he watches the electricity zap and shoot closer and closer to him. He shakes his head and glares angrily as the hologram quickly begins to break down under the heavy pressure of the electrical blasts coming from the experiment inside of it.

"What? What?! What the hell is going on? A malfunction?!" He screams with anger as the hologram begins to grow, it and the scrap pieces inside explode with energy, throwing Add off his feet and flying backwards. The Tracer frantically gets up from the explosion glares at the ground and sees the large cracks in it. He wanders over carefully to the purple light remaining from the explosion, the Nasod Dynamos fly to his side as kneels over to the floating ball of purple light and slowly reaches out to grab it with his skinny hands, the Nasod Dynamo's PC hologram appears again with another message written on it as the Tracer holds the ball of light.

"**WARNING: UNKNOWN VARIABLES DETECTED, UNABLE TO FIND INFORMATION IN DATA.**" The hologram has written on it, the Tracer glares little longer at the hologram before swiping it away with his other hand. The silly warning meant nothing to him, not when he had the result he was looking for in his palm.

"Activate Nasod Armour Mode! Kehehe!" He cackles with delight as the ball of light expands and curls around Add's body, changing his appearance, his jacket changes from white to black along with the rest of his clothes. His eyes glows with excitement as the Nasod Dynamos change shape as well, the Tracer senses the change of the amount of power within him and his creations.

"**Nasod Armour Mode is now active, ready for use." **The Nasod Dynamo's PC voice informs the Tracer **[Psychic Tracer Attire] **as he laughs as hard as he can. Add turns around and sees the giant boulder covering the only entrance and exit in the cave. Add shakes his head and grins.

"The explosion must have done that…though…that's not particularly a bad thing. Let's see how this new creation works, shall we?" He giggles with happiness and anticipation

The Psychic Tracer walks up to the boulder and clenches his right hand into a fist, ready to attack it. He swings his fist back and watches with a large smile as the purple, electrical currents swirl around his hand before he punches the boulder. Rocks and dust blasts around him from the force, he stares with his smile still intact as the boulder no longer exists in front of him, he raises his hand closer to his face and glares at it.

"Heh, this is good…very good indeed. I truly hope you're ready, Wally! I already know that you're on an airship from the data scan of the piece of Nasod technology you left behind for me, our encounter will happen soon…and I look forward to it!" He laughs and speaks to himself as he steps outside of the cave, his temporary laboratory, and is greeting with the bright rays of the sun. The Tracer seems startled as he sees a floating object high in the sky, he squints his eyes and places his left hand to his forehead to see better as he looks up. An airship…there's no mistaking it…that's an airship.

"Kahaha! Speaking of the devil!" He cackles as he leaps frantically onto the Nasod Dynamos and flies upwards to his next target, Wally.

* * *

The engineer gasps and pants as he dashes to the silent man standing quietly with his arms folded, the engineer waves his hands around as he runs closer to the man. He stops once he reaches him and breathes heavily, trying to catch his breath. The man raises an eyebrow and glares at the engineer, the engineer lifts his head and tries to speak to his boss.

"Sir…flying man…coming…open…open fire…he's flying…the airship will…" He attempts to say while continuously taking in deep breathes in the middle, the boss shakes his head and stares irritatedly at the panting engineer.

"Catch your breath before speaking to me, I cannot understand a single word you just muttered." The boss commands the engineer, the engineer nods and pants some more. He talks again once he was no longer tired, he looks worriedly at the boss before reporting the bad news to him.

"Sir, an intruder with some sort of flying machines is quickly heading towards the airship at a great amount of speed. We can't identify the man, do we have permission to fire and set up our defence mechanisms?"

The man glares at the engineer a small while longer before taking a deep sigh and shaking his head, and begins to give the obvious and logical answer to the asking fool.

"What kind of question is that…? Of cour-" He starts to order, his Nasod Arm begins to feel as though it's burning. The Taker grabs hold of the arm with his human one and stares at it as large drops as sweat pours down his scarred face, a chuckling voice in his head surprises him.

_**Hello once again, Raven. You recognize my voice, don't you?**_

'_Yes…you're the one. You're the one who saved me at the last moment, I can never forget your voice…what are you doing inside my head…?'_

_**I've just contacted you to ask for a favour. Do not stop the intruder from boarding your airship, allow him to reach you.**_

'_What? Why? I don't understand.'_

_**It's very complicated and hard to explain it…but all that you need to know is that he's extremely powerful, do not underestimate someone like him. He'll easily defeat your men and come for you last, take him down…kill him. I've seen the future; he'll get in your way to your path of revenge. Can you let something like that happen? Wouldn't you want to crush someone like that with your own hands?**_

'_Yes…I would…I would like to kill him myself.'_

_**Keheheh…then make me proud. Show him the power I have bestowed upon you, show him the power of the Nasod Arm.**_

The Taker opens his eyes and sees the engineer stare at his boss, confused as the boss simply glares quietly at his robotic arm, and repeats the question again for him.

"Do you give the permission to fire down the incoming intruder, Sir?"

"No. Don't."

"What? But Sir!-"

The boss grabs the annoying follower and grips his shirt with his Nasod Arm, he glares at the engineer with pure anger.

"I. Said. Let. Him. Board." He hisses with rage as he chucks the engineer backwards, the enginner quickly gets up and looks scared in front of his boss.

"Y-y-yes…Sir." He nods, the feeling of being unsure of the order being very clear in his tone of voice and his stuttering. He salutes his boss before dashing away to tell all the others about the boss' words. The Taker lifts his Nasod Arm again once the engineer is out of sight and glares at it again.

"You want to take my revenge away from me…? The revenge that I rightfully deserve…? The revenge, chaos and destruction that I had promised…? Well, I'll rip you apart…I shall not be denied of my revenge!" He hisses with rage through his teeth as he glares in the distance as a small figure flies closer to the airship and boards the other side of it.

_**Kehehehe! I've waiting for far too long! It's time to watch the Taker and the Tracer in a one-on-one…this is going to be most entertaining indeed….especially at a time like this. This ought to solve my boredom at least for a while…**_

* * *

"Kahahaha! What a bunch of shitty weaklings! None of you stand a chance, none of you! Pulse Cannon!" The Tracer laughs with absolute delight as he fires four electrical bullets that home in on the Black Crow Snipers and Gladiators leaping towards him, the bullets hit against them, making them shriek with utter agony as it rips several parts of their bodies off. The Tracer grins, cracks his knuckles and watches the Nasod Armour come to life around him.

"I hope you're all ready for this, this is my ultimate creation! Kaha!"

Add teleports right next to the crowd of Black Crow fighters charging towards him, he punches with his left arm first. The punch sends a bright-purple shockwave immediately after the Tracer's first punch, hitting every single fighter standing before him. Add laughs as he follows his heavy punch with a barrage of faster punches, blood gushing out from them every time they were hit with the Tracer's new power, two out of the fifteen Black Crow fighters survive. A Sniper and a Commander, they dart forward bravely and quickly to Add once his punches had ended in hopes of catching him off guard. The Black Crow Sniper stands close by and fires three ordinary bullets to the idle and grinning child while the Commander dashes right up to him and swings his huge sword downwards to the Tracer. The Tracer laughs, grabs the sword with his right hand before it hits him and squeezes. Shattering the sword completely, the Black Crow Commander steps back with shock of the boy's power. The Tracer's eye glows brightly as he stabs his Nasod Armour-covered hand into the Commander's stomach and watches as his corpse flops to the ground. The Sniper stares at the scene and frantically drops his gun and raises his hands to surrender.

"Please…please don't-" The Black Crow Sniper begins to beg to Add as he steps closer with blood and guts still fresh on his hands and an insanity-filled smile.

The Tracer flies forward and kicks the Sniper's head off with his left foot, the head shoots away from its original body and rolls, with crimson blood following, across the airship's floor. Add wanders over to the disembodied head and places his black, cool-looking trainers onto it, his grin growing wider than before as he laughs into his hands.

"Kahaha! Don't you know how many times people have begged for their lives so far? Do you?! More than you can your idiotic, pathetic friends could possibly imagine! Don't expect mercy, it's utterly disgusting." He hisses, irritated, before pressing his foot down and listening to the familiar crunch of the skull. It never gets old.

Add's eyes turn left and right, scanning the entire airship as he walks up to the ledge and stares at just how high up they were on the ship, it _almost _frightened the Tracer. Rapid winds flow annoyingly through his white hair and into his eyes. He didn't like being up here, he didn't like it at all. The faster he found Wally the better.

"So, _he _was right. My followers would be absolutely no challenge to you, and you came the exact same time and day that he told me you would…I wonder…does he really does have the ability to see the near future?" A voice mutters with irritation as he walks up to the distracted Tracer, Add spins around and glares curiously at the scarred adult with a strange-looking, silver arm.

"Who on El are you…? Are you Wally?"

"No, I've never heard of any Wally before."

Add regains his insane grin and laughs hysterically at the Taker, he stares happily at the silver arm of the serious man halfway through his laugh making him do it even harder. The Taker glares at the white-haired, creepy child and raises his right eyebrow at him as Add continues to laugh.

"What's so funny, kid?" The Taker questions Add as he cackles.

"Because, whether you're the Wally I'm looking for or not doesn't even matter! Not after seeing that! That's a _very _advanced piece of Nasod technology that you have got there, it's far more advanced than the piece of tech that I fought from that annoying bandit! Who did you get it from?!" He asks frantically at the silent, serious-looking Taker as stares at the Nasod Arm.

"From a man that told me to kill you."

'_What? Kill me? Who in hell is he talking about...? Wally…? Keh, no. That's not possible, this man named Wally doesn't even know I exist. I didn't leave any of the bandits or Banthus alive…there's no way that he could know about me. Who is the man that gave him that arm…? Kah…it doesn't even matter, does it? That Nasod technology is coming with me!"_

"Well, say goodbye to that arm of yours! It's about to be mine! Kahahaha!" Add laughs as the Nasod Armour is resummoned and curls itself around the Tracer with purple, electrical currents, his eye glowing with excitement once again. The Taker clenches the Nasod Arm's hand and watches as flickers of flame circles in it, he raises his head and glares at Add.

"You want this arm? Come and get it." He mutters with determination as the purple electricity-covered Tracer flies towards him.


	26. No 22: The Tracer and the Taker Part 2

**Hello again, everyone! It's time to bring the other half of the chapter~! C: The next chapters shall return to normal with mixed POVs after this one, Lu and Ciel will be back C:**

**I've gotten a LOT of support these last few days which really did make me happy, I'm glad everyone following has been enjoying so far. It has only just began, I hope you'll all stick with me through this crazy journey. Your support is what is keeps this story going, thank you all! :D **

**A big, special thanks to charafang, ThiefofStealth and bennydragon95 for following and/or favouriting. Thank you so much! You're the best! :D**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the second part of chapter 22~!**

* * *

"Pulse Cannon!" Add laughs with excitement as he watches the several pulses of purple electricity rocket towards the Taker. Raven attempts to leap out of the way by jumping to the right but the bullets of energy follow him, Add laughs even harder as he stares at Raven.

"Kaha! You stupid, retarded fool! Those bullets have a homing ability, you can't dodge!"

The Taker squints his eyes with pure irritation as he watches the bullets home in on him, he instead lands on his feet again and runs straight towards the pulses of purple energy, the Tracer glares at Raven, confused as the Taker right up to the Tracer's attack. Raven closes his eyes as to concentrate.

"Shadow Step." The Taker mutters quietly under his breath, Add stares in absolute awe as Raven suddenly turns transparent before his eyes, the pulses fire straight through Raven as the Taker continues to run forward to Add. The Tracer takes a few steps back but realizes it's already too late.

The Taker reaches the stationary Add and slashes his claw down, sending the Tracer off his feet, and cuts rapidly and savagely at the child before holding his Nasod Arm's claw in front of himself and collecting flickering waves of flames next to his the claw, the Tracer can only stare in slow motion as the flames become larger and larger around him, Raven holds his claw with his human hand and yells as he releases the ultimate firepower of his Nasod Arm.

"Maximum Cannon!"

The incredible sphere of fire blasts with spinning energy as it burns deep into the flesh of the Tracer, Raven holds the ball of fire consuming the boy before being forced to end it because of his limitations. Add flies across the top deck of the airship from the attack, swearing and cursing unimaginable words before forcing himself back onto his feet, the Taker wastes no time and dashes calmly at the injured, white-haired child. The Taker swings his trusty, old sword behind himself before slashing it forward and releasing a brutal series of cuts and stabs to the child's chest, the boy tries and attempts nothing to stop the vicious attacks being made on him, and falls back again.

Reaching almost the edge of the airship, the Taker glares furiously at Add as he gets up from the attack once again and begins to cackle as though he had heard an amazing joke. Hot sweat rolls and drips down the Taker's face as the boy in front of him starts the float in mid-air, Add's left eyes glows with purple light happily as the Nasod Armour begins to materialize once more around as clenched fists and body. The Tracer hovers forward and stops laughing as he glares at Raven with his glowing eye. He cracks his knuckles as more electricity curls and dances around him frantically, the Tracer swings his head back and laughs once again before holding his Armour-covered, left hand in front of him.

"Dynamo Configuration…Dissolver! Kahaha!" He giggles with delight as multiple shocks hit the Taker before he can react in time, the Tracer takes this opportunity to hop on his Nasod Dynamos and fly around. Add raises his left leg and kicks the Taker before swinging his right fist back and punching him and ending it with another left kick, Raven tumbles backwards clumsily and shouts angrily with pain. The Taker suddenly hears a familiar chuckle in his head again, the voice ends the almost-silent chuckle with a tired sigh.

* * *

_**See, Raven? I told you before this started; that boy shall not be beaten so easy. You'll have to give everything you've got in your human body and new arm that I have generously blessed you with.**_

'_Yes, I will do so. I will show him true power, I cannot lose this fight. Revenge is mine…and no one shall stop me!'_

_**Kekeke! Good! That's exactly what I like to hear, beat him to a pulp. Leave nothing of him left!**_

* * *

The Taker suddenly roars furiously and darts towards the Tracer, Add laughs as he watches with an uncaring expression on his face as the Taker claws and slashes at the sighing Tracer. Raven jumps back and readies himself to charge forward with his full strength, a blue aura begins to surround him. The Tracer chuckles under his breath and folds his arms, shaking his head in the process. He grins as the Taker runs forward to him with absolutely blinding speed and brutality.

"Power Assault!" Raven yells with determination as he collides with the Tracer, causing the entire floor beneath them to shake and shiver under the incredible pressure and force emitting from the attack, the Nasod Armour reacts as normal and protects Add completely from the blow, the purple energy surrounding him instinctively blasts a powerful shockwave from the Tracer, immediately throwing the Taker flying back.

The Tracer cackles with crazy happiness as he teleports to the airborne Taker and slams him down to the ground, cracking the deck beneath both of them, Raven screams in pain as the Tracer continues to hit him with a lengthy barrage of Nasod-powered punches. Add laughs with delight as he witnesses the Taker cough and spit out red, dark blood from his mouth as the Tracer proceeds to pummel Raven relentlessly with more punches and kicks. He ends the series of Nasod Armour combos by landing a heavy, purple-covered kick to the Taker's stomach. Raven falls to his knees and fails to hold his sword any longer, it rolls uselessly beside him. The Tracer laughs as he watches the Taker attempt to stand back up again and fails, he hovers back up into the air and directs the Nasod Dynamos under his feet while up in the sky. Purple, electric particles float around underneath the Dynamos and begin to form and collide together into a sparking ball of energy, Add's purple eye glows stronger than before and his grin starts to spread further along his face.

"Do you see this? Do you see this power?! This is all because of me…me! _I _created this power…and _I _ will crush anyone that gets in my way with it. There might have been a few unknown variables during the experiment…and there are yet many questions that the Nasod Armour has yet to answer…even _I_ don't have a clue about what limits it has. Yet, despite all of that…it intrigues me almost as much as Nasod codes and pieces of technology do. I've yet to figure the Nasod Armour entirely…but I soon shall….kehe…but, you won't live to see that day. I won't just take that Nasod Arm of yours…I'll take your life while I'm at it for fun! Kahahaha!"

The ball of energy being created underneath the Tracer starts to spark more and more, electric sparks fly around the boy and the Taker, Raven grimaces and coughs more blood from his serious injuries as the Tracer sends his leg back and swings it forward to kick it at the Taker, to end him and finally take the precious technology he was holding with him. The Tracer kicks the ball of energy down to the Taker, with a smile on his face, like an oversized football. The ball shoots down at the kneeling Raven like a large bullet, causing a colossal, enormous explosion as it collides with him. Pieces of the shattered ground blast through the air along with a cloud of dust, Add hovers back down to the deck of the airship, casually stretches his arms and leans calmly on his Nasod Dynamos behind him and laughs his head off as he witnesses the Taker somehow crawl desperately out of the explosion, his face covered with blood as he wanders weakly to the giggling Add like a lifeless zombie. The Tracer shakes his head with a grin, raises his two hands and claps sarcastically at the coughing Taker.

"I…can still fight…my revenge…shall not be denied…Seris…she has put her faith in me, can I…can I really let her down…? Is this all of the revenge I am destined to fulfill?" The Taker whispers weakly to himself as he holds his bleeding, almost-dead body and walks even closer to the Tracer. Add shakes his head and closes his eyes.

'_This fool…he cannot fight any longer. He's barely got enough strength in him to stand, he's making this far too easy for me. Revenge? What on El is he blabbering on about…? No, don't think about it. Don't even think about feeling sorry for him. That's weak. That's just weak. Pathetic. I will give no mercy…but he looks as though he's fighting for someone other than himself…no. Stop. I don't care. I simply don't care. He'll die, by my hands. I'll rip his heart out and take that Nasod Arm. It's mine. All mine. I just need to keep thinking like that…yes…yes! That's it! Kahaha! I'll slaughter this idiotic bastard…kehehe!' _The Tracer thinks in his head before getting up from his leaning position and walking fast towards the weak Taker, he curls more electric energy in his palm and grins once again. Just one more punch and he could end this.

* * *

_**Raven, my creation…this is it. This is your chance, your only chance!**_

'_W-what…?' Raven the Taker thinks to himself weakly in his bleeding head._

_**That boy, he's a complete fool. He's simply too full of himself and his selfish desires to notice his weaknesses, and now he has kindly showed it to us.**_

'_How…can someone like him…have a weakness…? Every time I attack him with my sword and claw…it just ricochets off his strange armour and throws me backwards, allowing him to hit me with an endless stream of punches…he's…truly…invincible…'_

_**Kukukuku! So you think! However that is not the case, my dear creation. For you see, he has one major weakness, and that weakness shall be what will cause his death. Just do as I say…and you'll have your victory.**_

'_Y-yes…whatever…you say…'_

_**Good. Take the blow.**_

'_W-what…? What does that have to do with his weakness? I cannot take any more hits…this is it for me…I have failed…'_

_**No. Trust me, Raven. You'll survive the hit, just watch. Let him hit you, and this fight is over…for him.**_

* * *

"This is where I crush you and take my prize with me, sorry to end this so soon but you just couldn't give me a challenge! See you in hell, whoever you are! _Kahahahaha!" _Add shrieks with pure delight as he flies forward and punches the Taker with his right fist. The insane laughs of the Tracer fill the air around the both of them as the punch hits against the Taker's forehead. Both of them stay in that position for a while, the Tracer's fist resting on the surprised Taker's head. Add opens his eyes and stares at Raven, and Raven does the same vice versa, Add's left eye flickers with light as he glares irritated and confused at his fist. He lowers his head and looks at his body, the Nasod Armour had completely disappeared. It was no longer protecting him, the Tracer's eyes widen and so does the Taker's as they both realize the same thing. The Nasod Armour has a limit…

And that limit had just been reached.

The Tracer steps away from the Taker, confused and terrified. He looks at himself a bit longer before looking back up at Raven as the Taker begins to take his steps forward. Add's trump card was gone, and the Tracer stood no chance against the clawed man otherwise. Add shakes his head in disbelief.

"No…no! A hundred goddamn times _no! _It…it ended?! _It fucking ended?! _Kuuuahh!" The Tracer shrieks angrily to the sky as the Taker advances forward silently, his claw slowly clenching into a fist. The Tracer summons his Nasod Dynamos in front of himself and swings his right arm to command them.

"Don't. This is over." Raven snaps at the furious Tracer as he raises his sword to attack.

"This is far from over! I'm not done yet, you pile of shit! Void Break-" The Tracer begins to scream as an energy ball materializes from the Dynamos.

The Taker darts forward before the Tracer can end the attack and grabs him with his Nasod Arm, fresh blood still dripping down his scarred face as lifts the white-haired child into the air and wanders over to the edge of the airship. The Taker squints his eyes and holds Add over the deck of the ship, the Tracer looks down at their height in the air and a shiver crawls dangerously up his spine.

* * *

_**Raven…what do you think you're doing…? You're not thinking of…just throwing him off the airship…are you…?**_

'_I want nothing more to do with this kid, he means nothing to me.' _The Taker replies back in his head, the mysterious voice becomes angry.

_**No! Don't you dare! That won't kill him, he can fly with his machines! I gave you that power of the Nasod, so you shall do as I say, do you understand?!**_

'_You don't tell me what to do. No one does. You don't want me to kill this child for my sake, it's something that you shall benefit from. I can sense it in your voice. I want nothing more with you or this kid. I'll achieve my revenge on my own.'_

_**Don't do it! You listen to me this instant!**_

'_This is not open to negotiation.'_

* * *

The Taker glares at the Tracer and holds him out further from the edge of the airship, flames of anger linger in his eyes.

"If you're smart, you'll be sure not to cross paths with me again." The Taker hisses with rage at the Tracer before letting go off the white-haired child's black jacket and dropping the screaming and cursing Tracer off the airship.

The Taker…Raven. He turns around after getting rid of the nuisance and waits for the mysterious voice to talk once more. The voice stays silent, leaving the Taker all alone abroad the massive airship. Raven stares at the sky and frowns as he wanders over to the control console for the airship and grips them tightly in his human and Nasod hands. His path, he couldn't change it now. His followers were dead and the one who saved him has finally left him…but his thirst for revenge has yet to be quenched. He was going to bring all of Velder down, even if it killed him.

* * *

_**Raven…he has betrayed me. That was not part of the vision, once again. I thought I could control him long enough to kill that child…but for some reason my sight of the future is incorrect once more…the Master mustn't know that the boy is still alive. I will have to cover it up and use my powers to blind him of seeing the boy.**_

_Space cracks form around the masked man, he was getting another vison…? Why…?_

_Dark, purple eyes glare at him in the vision, he sees fire, he sees death, he sees…beautiful, delicious destruction. The masked man opens his eyes and leaves the sudden vision._

_**Oh…oh this is…just bloody wonderful.**_


	27. No 23: The Power Of Terror

**Hey again! I'm back once again! How are you all doing? The past few days have been very busy and pretty taxing on me, however things are quickly picking back up again. Thank you for patiently waiting!**

**Special thanks to CainLimbo and Mider-Span for following and favouriting, you're the best! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

The confident-looking Knight grins happily as he holds his Great Sword in his right hand and wanders over to his team, the calm Hoffman and Elder's blacksmith Lenphad follow behind the Knight as he waves enthusiastically to his watching friends. The Knight's clothes have changed slight, his Great Sword, attire and hairstyle had all changed. Rena the Elf cocks her head to the side and stares at Elsword, she leans over to Aisha standing next to her and elbows her softly. Chung stands there quietly and looks at everyone.

"He's changed a lot, his training here in Elder must've done some good to him." The Elf whispers as the red-haired Knight continues to grin and walk towards the team.

"He's definitely different…maybe for the better…" Aisha the Mage whispers back to her friend while glaring quietly at the New Knight before them, she grips her staff and heaves a large sigh.

"Oh my, is someone having a little crush at this moment…?" Rena the Elf giggles teasingly as she makes a cute face at the Mage and nudges her arm slightly harder. Aisha takes a sudden step back as her face turns as red as a tomato, she shakes her head and begins to play with her purple staff. She glares at the smiling, almost-laughing Elf and huffs.

"Don't be ridiculous."

The red-haired Knight shakes the Guardian's hand as he reaches the El Search Party, smiling happily at all of them with his never-dying pride. The Mage sighs again and turns away, pretending not to care at all, Rena giggles softly as she looks at the new and improved Knight. Chung, unable to hold his excitement like the Elf and the Mage, bursts into a giant grin and stares at Elsword with admiration. The red-haired Knight laughs as the Guardian barrages him with an endless amount of curious questions about his training, Elsword enjoys the attention he feels like he rightfully deserves. The Knight pats Chung on the back and laughs once more.

"I know. Good, right? The training that these guys have got here are really helpful, I'm stronger than ever before! If only Sis could see me now!" He exclaims as he looks at the cross-shaped paint on his new Great Sword.

"Oh, get over yourself…idiot." Aisha hisses as Hoffman and Lenphad both reach the team of fighters as well. Hoffman smiles at the kids as the red-haired Knight continues to brag about how hard he had trained earlier, Lenphad crosses his arms reluctantly and turns his head away from the small crowd like Aisha.

"You're still weak, you might have impressed Hoffman and Echo but I remain unimpressed, you've still got a lot to work on. Including that ego." The blacksmith hisses angrily, Hoffman shakes his head and smiles again at the El Search Party.

"Peace, Lenphad. They're still children, there's no need to be so austere. Congratulations to you, brave fighter. You've past everyone's teaching here in Elder, you shall now and forever more be titled as the Sword Knight. Well done." He informs the grinning and smug Knight, Elsword scratches the back of his head and shrugs.

"It was nothing I couldn't handle." Elsword replies back to Hoffman simply and effortlessly.

"I cannot believe you became so strong in such a short amount of time! That's incredible!" Chung the Guardian speaks excitedly to Elsword while pushing his shaggy, blonde hair out of his eyes, Elsword looks at the Guardian and shakes his head while staring at his friend.

"Geez, Chung…you're in a serious need of a haircut. It's getting way too long, don't you think?"

Rena smiles at both of them and waves both of her hands dismissively, she looks up at Hoffman and Lenphad and puts on her best 'serious' face and glares at the two of them. The laughter dies out as the Elf begins to speak business.

"So, now that Elsword's training is finally over and everyone is set, we should head off to Wally castle and end his uncontrollable reign, the chaos he's caused to all of you has gone on for long enough."

"Indeed, I've already set everything up. Luichel shall guide you to the entrance to his castle. Please be careful, it is said he has a machine at his disposal with almost-limitless power and strength. Defeating him and his robot shall most certainly not be easy." Hoffman says to the El Search Party while frowning, worried for the group of fighters.

"We'll take care of it, there's no need to worry about us!" Aisha the Mage states, finally joining the conversation. Hoffman looks relieved and smiles.

"Plus, saving the village of Elder and getting the El back? That's killing two birds with one stone." The red-haired Knight grins to everyone.

"Yeah, thanks everyone. We're counting on you." Lenphad mutters and mumbles, not wanting to show his appreciation.

The El Search Party nod confidently at each other before strongly gripping their weapons and heading over to the accessory shop, Luichel smiles brightly and fist-pumps the air with excitement.

"Alright! Let's do this!" She cheers to the team.

* * *

A dark, purple arrow blazes straight past Ciel and Lu as they dash to and hide behind the fallen rocks lying along the floor, Ciel grips his two Gunblades, Lu stares and grimaces as she watches blood pour out of the wounds on her small legs. Ciel kneels over and looks at pain that the demons of Feita had caused his Master. More arrows fire and hit against the brown boulder as they run behind that next. The Glitter Archers fast-walk to the retreating Duo, determined to shoot them both in crimson blood. Ciel turns to Lu as she holds her legs tightly and stares at Ciel in horror.

"We're...we are completely outnumbered and outmatched…I didn't…expect them to be this strong…ordinary demons were never this strong back when I was in power. What was made them so strong…?" Lu whispers to her as sweat fires down her cute but cut cheeks. They hear the large group of powerful Glitter Spearman and Archer's footsteps become louder.

"This cannot do, you are far too hurt to continue fighting. I shall over from here. Please rest, Lu." Ciel speaks quietly back to his Master as he pants heavily from his own deep wounds. The Glitter monsters come from around the boulder and dash towards the injured Duo with their spears as the Archer's stood back and began to get ready to fire more arrows. Ciel raises his Gunblades in front of himself as he darts to the Spearman to fight them head-on, Lu cries her servant's name worriedly as the assassin ignores and forces himself to continue to fight. Clashes and slashes occur as the assassin and several Glitter Spearmen hit their weapons to each other, the first demon takes a brave lunge at Ciel. The assassin lifts his left Gunblade and blocks the attack while raising his right Gunblade and placing it onto the demon's forehead, blowing out the Glitter monster's purple brains out with a single shot. The next two leap from the sky and point their spears to the ground, the Archer's finally have their arrows charged up and fire them at the same time.

"Ciel! Watch out!" Lu shouts to her servant as she sees the wave of dark arrows being fired from the crowd of Archer's, she attempts to get up and assist but screams from the pain in her knees as she realizes they're both broken. The assassin turns his head to glare at his Master for a split second before looking at the Glitter monsters again.

Ciel rolls over to the left and fires off two blue bullets behind him, effectively hitting the Spearmen as they land to the ground, the Glitter Spearmen shriek with agony as Ciel gets up from his roll and leaps to the left, dodging the arrows coming from afar before raising both of his Gunblades and firing his own wave of projectiles to the two injured Spearmen.

"Triple Shot, Flick Shot, Strong Strike!" Ciel yells one after another as he fires multiple, ordinary bullets before charging up the blue power in his left Gunblade and blasting a blazing, blue disk to the crowd Glitter Spearmen running towards him, he ends the continuous attack with a final, large missile-like bullets to pierce through the attacking demons.

Blood fires and gushes in and around the crowd of Glitter monsters, a rain of organs shoot down from the sky as the unforgettable, torturing screams of pain ring in the assassin's and demon girl's ears. The crowd of demons fall back and scream further as the assassin continues to fire more and more bullets from his Gunblades, the Archer's drop their bows and arrows and flop onto the floor dead as the blue bullets slash straight through their empty hearts, more sweat dances and swirls down Ciel's face as the constant blasts of magic he was releasing begins to fatigue him, the attacks of blue bullets starts to slow down. The demons begin to advance to the Duo yet again, Lu shakes her head with frustration as she realizes that Ciel alone wasn't going to be enough.

"Ciel, fall back…I don't have the power to heal myself anymore and you're almost at the same level of injury as me, we cannot…we can't win this. They're too strong…"

Ciel turns his head as he stops firing at the incoming army of Glitter demons and pants as he glares at Lu's worried face. The assassin frowns and shouts with anger before raising his Gunblades and firing once again. He doesn't turn his head back again as he yells at his Master.

"No. I refuse to stop fighting here, if I do then we're both dead. We've finally reached the demons, I can sense my fulfilment as your servant…we're almost there. I promised my life over to you, Lu. To serve you till death…and that's exactly what I will do."

Lu screams out Ciel's name as an injured, Glitter monster swings his sharp spear and throws it at the Duo, Ciel glares at the spear and raises his Gunblade to intercept it…

…but the spear wasn't for him.

The spear hurdles and flies towards Lu, she yelps as she tries to walk again…only to scream in agony as the pain from her broken legs to flow and crawl through her tiny body. She stares as the poised spear fires straight down to her, she closes her eyes and allows multiple tears to slide down her cut cheeks, realizing that this was the end. Her honor…her title…her status…she never got to take it all back…she places her hands in front of her eyes and waits for the spear to pierce through her. A shadow looms out in front of her, blood shoots onto her adorable face as she hears a faint yet familiar cry. Her eyes widen and her mouth drops sadly as she stares at the assassin before her…with the spear in his stomach. Ciel still somehow manages to stand strong and tall in front of her for a few seconds before dropping to his knees, he turns his head and smiles weakly at his devastated Master.

"Lu…are you…alright…?" He coughs slowly as dark blood rolls down his mouth, the assassin pants as he struggles to stay on his knees any longer. Lu drops her head, glares at her broken legs as dark blue smoke curls around them, causing her to float slightly in mid-air. The smoke spreads around to the rest of her tiny body, her clothes change to something far more punk-looking, a hood rests on her head. She glares at the army of pathetic demons in front of her, the powers of terror that she had once possessing was rushing in the blood of her veins once more. She hovers beside her servant, kneels down, and yanks the spear out of Ciel forcefully. Ciel's eyes widen as the pain in his body disappears, the magic in him was as powerful as ever. Lu lifts herself up again, chucks the spear away, summons her right demon claw and glares at the Glitter monsters with a dark look in her eyes. She speaks instinctively.

"Don't look back. Lest abyssal terror consume you." She snaps emotionlessly, Ciel stares in shock as his Master flies towards the frightened demons before her and summons a colossal demon claw from the sky and watches as it crushes the demons that were crunched underneath it, only a pool of blood remains of the army of demons, blood oozes from under the claw as it is summoned away. The strange, different clothes that Lu had on her changes back to her normal attire and her terrifying stare disappears with it, she looks around, dazed. Ciel gets onto his feet and walks cautiously to his Master as Lu stands there.

"Lu…?" He asks, nervously.

Lu's eyes slam shut and her demonic claws fade away, her feet no longer help support her up and she tumbles to the ground, Ciel's eyes widen as he darts towards her and catches her before she falls with his right arm, he stares sadly at the unconscious Lu and shakes his head while frowning worriedly at her. He closes his eyes and wonders to himself.

"For you take down such a large amount of demons that strong…Lu…just how powerful are you…?" He speaks out loud to himself as he drops his head anxiously.


	28. No 24: The Camp Of Feita

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* * *

Ciel's eyes slowly force themselves open as he carefully crawls out from underneath the soft blanket on the large bed. He sits up and rubs his eyes and looks to the right of himself, seeing the adorable, drooling Lu snore peacefully beside him. A small, calm smile rests on the assassin's face as he watches his Master toss and turn in the bed as her snores gradually louder and louder. Ciel turns his head and looks at the surroundings around the bed, they're in a small, green tent. Ciel's smile quickly fades as the memories of the fight they were in before flood rapidly through his head, he clenches his skull and closes his eyes. Trying his best to forget the excruciating pain that he had experienced when that spear had pierced right into his stomach.

"Why…did I jump in the way like that? It all happened so fast, like I didn't have any control over my own body. How…bizarre." He speaks to himself as he places his feet to the ground and lifts himself off the soft, warm bed, careful not to wake his Master up in the process.

Ciel's eyes narrow as he glares around suspiciously, he begins to advance to the hole in the tent when he bumps into a figure in front of him. They both stumble backwards from the force, the boy Ciel had walked into reached down and picked the files of paper he had dropped along with his glasses. He places them on again and observes the startled assassin, he smiles gently and blushes slightly.

"H-hello…! M-my name is…Allegro, w-what is yours…?" He asks shyly as he stares at the terrifying man before him through his big glasses, the assassin straightens his jacket and glares at the strange kid.

"Ciel,"

"I-it's…nice to meet you, Ciel. S-sorry if y-you are confused as though why you are here, we…we had found you both unconscious not too far from here and brought you to our camp to tend to your injures."

The assassin senses a spark of fear slither up his spine as he remembers how hurt Lu had been during their first confrontation, he turns away from Allegro without saying anything else and wanders over to the bed again and stares at his Master. She looked absolutely fine except from a few faint scratches, Lu turning her head once more while sleeping, making herself face the assassin looking at her. He smiles as he watches her rest so cutely, it was one of the most adorable things he had ever seen. He raises his hand and slowly strokes his Master cute cheek softly and chuckles calmly to himself.

"Looks like you'll be just fine, Lu." He whispers as he continues to smile.

Lu's eyes shoot open as fast as a bullet, completely taking Ciel by surprise. His eyes widen and he yelps with fright as he leaps onto one leg and tumbles clumsily to the floor. Lu stretches her miniature arms before crawling across the bed and staring at the fallen assassin, Ciel slowly gets up while rubbing his hurt back. His Master yawns carelessly before glaring at the assassin and shaking her head in disappointment.

"Honestly, I wake up after such a nice sleep just to find you fall embarrassingly falling over yourself!" She complains madly as she jumps off the bed and points her finger to scold him, Ciel's face turns into a relieved smile as he realizes that Lu didn't know what he was doing. A man blasts into the tent worriedly and stares at Allegro and the Duo, he sighs and taps his right foot angrily.

"I heard a sound coming from outside, I thought you might have been attacked. But it seems I rushed over here for nothing." He snaps as he glares at the assassin and Demon Lord, his expression becomes slightly softer as he walks towards them. He doesn't offer a handshake and stares suspiciously at them. "State your names."

The assassin's face becomes as serious-looking as the man before them, he turns away from Lu and stands firmly opposite the soldier.

"You first," Ciel hisses back as he reaches for his weapons, sensing that things might turn ugly. He curses under his breath after he realizes that his Gunblades were no longer with him. The soldier stares at the assassin before shrugging reluctantly and point to himself and the boy with glasses behind him.

"Lento, and this is Allegro, though I suppose he has already introduced himself. I'll ask again, what are your names?"

"Call me Ciel." The assassin states after learning both of the men's names.

"I'm Lu," The Demon Lord informs them.

"I-it's good to see that you are both b-better now, you were in a terrible state when we found you." Allegro smiles to the Duo as he adjusts his thick glasses, Lento nods with agreement and straightens his back.

"Indeed. We were sent here to hold back the invading demons and to hopefully research them with Allegro's help, imagine my surprise when I climbing a hill to check for any more demons just to see a young, unconscious girl and a fighter laying still beside her. We rushed to your position as fast as we could."

"Fighter? How do you know that I'm a fighter…?" Ciel questions Lento halfway through his explanation, his eyes as hard as stone. The soldier shrugs once again and nods to Allegro as the boy pulls out two Gunblades from a wooden box beside him, the assassin curses silently again.

"I believe that these are yours, here." The boy with glasses offers as he holds out the Gunblades in front of him, the assassin reaches out and clenches his weapons, he grins as he sees Lento slowly unsheathing his sword from his back.

"I see that you don't trust me with these weapons," The assassin smiles as he holds his Gunblades out, threateningly. The soldier keeps his hand on his sheathed sword and stares at Ciel.

"I apologize if I offend you, however you must understand that I don't completely trust you yet."

Ciel's smile becomes bigger, he waves his left hand in the air dismissively after he sheathes his Gunblades to his back.

"No, I understand. In fact, it's good to see someone who knows what they're doing. You can never trust someone you just met, not under any circumstances."

The soldier nods as he leaves his sword be and continues his explanation.

"We couldn't simply leave you there so we took you to the nearest tent and Allegro treated with the best medicine he could make,"

"Thanks for that!" Lu smiles gratefully as she gives cheekiest grin to both of them, Ciel smiles with her and nods.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Don't mention it, it is our duty. What _I _want to know is how you killed the entire wave of demons that night, each night a giant wave heads straight towards this camp. But after we found you two unconscious not a single demon came to attack, you killed them all. You must be a skilled fighter, Ciel." Lento speaks to the Duo while raising an eyebrow, Ciel shakes his head and smiles weakly at his Master.

"That wasn't my doing, I didn't stand a chance against those creatures. Lu over here took care of pretty much all of them."

Both Allegro's and Lento's eyes widen as they stare in shock at the fragile-looking, little girl. Allegro's mouth drops slightly as he stares in awe at the two of them.

"Lu, you're a fighter too?"

"Uh-huh," The Demon Lord laughs, she turns her head and looks at Ciel smiling as well, causing them both to chuckle for a short while.

"Either way, we appreciate the help." Lento states to the Duo once they were finished laughing, the two nod and smile at them. "I was wondering, if it is not too much trouble, if you can continue to help us against the invading demons, at least for a while? It would be most helpful of you."

The Duo grin kindly at Lento before turning around and bring their heads close to each other's, they begin to whisper.

"_Should we?" _The assassin questions his Master in a quiet voice.

"_What do you think, Ciel? Of course! Forget Sander for a while, this place has plenty of demons for us to fight, we can totally use this to our advantages!"_

"_Very well, understood. But…Lu…we need to talk about that power from before, what exactly was that?"_

"_Heh, I knew you were going to ask about that…"_

"_Please, I need to know, Lu."_

"_Ok, ok. I got it. Back when I had my honorable title of a Demon Lord I commanded many large legions, I would fight alongside them with the power of Terror, an incredible power that even demons couldn't understand properly. I thought that that I completely lost that power when everything was taken away from me, obviously I was wrong."_

"_That power was amazing, Lu. You wiped out all of our enemies with it…but…it's a bit uncontrollable. You didn't seem to be in complete control of it."_

"_Yeah, I noticed too. It's definitely good to know I still have the power of Terror. But I suppose I should be a bit careful when using it."_

"_I agree."_

The Duo nod their heads in sync and turn around to smile at Lento and Allegro, the assassin nods his head and unsheathes his Gunblades.

"Alright, we'll assist you."

* * *

"Unlimited Blade!" The red-haired Knight cries out desperately to the sky as she dashes towards the dark Colossus and cuts into a barrage of swift slashes, ending it with a violent smash. The hits crash off the Colossus' unbreakable armour, leaving no evidence of damage on it.

The female Knight pants heavily as large drops of sweat roll and tumble down her face, she brushes her messed up, red hair out of her face as she raises her Claymore with her other hand and grins weakly as the White Colossus advances to her, raising his Destroyer and fires off a barrage of red missiles without the slightest bit of flinching, the Knight darts straight up to the missiles and cuts through them frantically as the pain from the wounds on her seep in slowly and tortures her.

"Power Burster!" She yells loudly as she leaps into the air and strikes the ground with fire magic, causing a flame geyser to sprout and engulf another barrage of missiles as the White Colossus refuses to let up the attack, the red-haired Knight's Claymore drops to the ground as she falls to her knees, she stares at the corpses of her fellow Red Knights as she holds her broken left arm.

The White Colossus stops staying in his Siege Shelling stance once he had realized that the Knight can no longer fight, he holds his massive Destroyer by his side as he walks over to the red-haired Knight to finish the fight, even such a skilled Knight stood no chance. The Colossus stops walking once he's close enough and raises his Destroyer with one arm and points it at the bleeding, panting Knight. The Knight attempts to hold up her Claymore once more but fails, she didn't have any fight left in her. She closes her eyes as the White Colossus' weapon charges up a powerful missile to end the battle, a faint face smiles to her inside her head. A small, grinning child with a wooden sword waves happily in her memories, his spiky, red hair flowing crazily in the wind, if she had one regret…it was that she was about to leave her brother all alone.

An explosion throws the red-haired Knight backwards slightly, a pained cry emits from the White Colossus' as a tornado of fire smashes against him, a few cracks appear on his armour. A dark figure stands before the massive fighter as the Colossus forces himself to his feet, the figure stands in the smoke blinding the red-haired Knight to see the one that has come to her aid.

"Giving your entire mind and soul over to those beings, giving up on resisting them so easily? Allowing yourself to be used like a puppet? You humans are as pathetic as I remember!" A voice laughs from the dark figure, rocks and energy blasts from the two fighters as they clash. The Knight tries to get to her feet but fails, she can only lie there and listen to the sounds of chaos around her.

"Haha! You're not that bad, for an insect! Dancing Flames!" The voice laughs again as he flies back from the amazingly-powerful strikes of the White Colossus, the two, far figures continue to clash in the smoke. Trading blow for blow, the Knight coughs up some of her own blood as she sees the dark figure retreat away from the battle, the Knight could see the figure slightly better now. Someone with long, beautiful black with a dark jacket, and staring blood-red eyes. The person scoops the red-haired Knight in his or her's arms and continues to run, the passing-out Knight stares weakly at her savior and coughs with agony.

"No…Velder…I have to…protect it…"

"Forget that, whoever that fighter is, he is far too strong for anyone to defeat. At least, for now." The emotionless, frustrated voice snaps to her, everything around the Knight becomes darker and progressively blank, her eyes slowly down to close her eyes. She drops her head and fails to keep herself conscious for any longer.

"E-Elsword…"


	29. No 25: Ending The Reign

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* * *

The red-haired Knight sits on a soft, fluffy green chair beside the fireplace, sipping hot chocolate while breathing heavily. She continues to take multiple sips from the large, white mug while secretly staring at her savior standing quietly by the window, the person's eyes have a sharp look and an unsettling frown, Elesis persists on staring at the person. Long, black hair…a cute-like face but a frustrated glare, the person leans on a wall while observing the outside of the hut. Elesis begins to consider if staying in this place with such a suspicious person was a good idea.

'_I mean…I know he saved me back in Hamel, and I'm grateful for that, but I don't even know who she is. My arm is still recovering…however once it's all better I should quickly get the heck outta here. Still…I guess the least I can do right now is try to start a conversation and thank him for what he did for me.'_

The Knight shuffles around carelessly in her seat before staring at the black-haired fighter once more, she gently places the mug of hot chocolate on the table beside her, gets up and folds her arms while clearing her throat to get the person's attention.

"So, who are you?" The Knight asks bravely as she watches the red-eyed fighter stops staring out the window and glares at her.

"Draco," The glaring person finally mutters while messing around with his or hers' black jacket, Elesis' shoulders relax slightly as she gives a kind grin while introducing herself.

"Cool! The name's Elesis, nice to meet you!" She giggles while playfully sticking out her uninjured hand out, the person glares strongly at the Knight's hand before pushing the hand away and sighing.

"I honestly don't care, your magic though…it interests me. Tell me more about it, now."

"Wow, you're kinda rude. If you're going to have an attitude like that I won't feel like talking to you anymore," The red-haired Knight huffs angrily back to the black-haired fighter while extending her hand slightly further forward, the fighter curses under his breath as he realizes that he wasn't going to get the answers he was looking for if he didn't, he bites his tongue reluctantly and effortlessly shakes the Knight's hand. She smiles again as she stretches herself while yawning, she gives a wink and laughs.

"Much better, I guess I'll talk about it. What do you want to know about my magic?"

"Earlier you used that magic of yours of conjure…fire. That interests me."

"Err…have you never seen magic before, Draco? It can pretty much do anything, fire is nothing compared to what else magic can do…but, wait…didn't you use different blasts of fire to hold off that Guardian in Hamel…?"

"That wasn't your 'magic', I summoned _real _flames from my hands. I do not need that power to create fire, I can make real fire without it."

"R-really…? That's…weird…"

'_So, this magic that the humans wield can do more than just create their own fire. It's some helpful information, I suppose keeping this Knight alive has done some good after all. However, it seems that this is all that this girl can tell me, I'll end her now. She has no further use.' _Draco thinks to himself as he slowly wanders over to the red-haired Knight while summoning small flickers of fire into his palm, making sure not to alarm the Knight of what he was about to do. The Knight fingers on her chin and begins to wonder to herself.

"Geez, I really hope Elsword doesn't head to Hamel any time soon. He wouldn't stand a chance…great, now I'm going to become sick with worry…" She mumbles to herself as she sits down on the green chair again, Draco raises his eyebrow and tries to attempt to distract the Knight.

"Oh? Who is this Elsword you speak of?"

"Ah, he's my little brother. A little rascal but has a heart of gold, I can never forget his spiky, red hair. He's just the cutest."

Draco's heart almost skips a bit as his eyes widen at the alarming, new information. Red, spiky hair…a boy…related to a Knight, which means he could be a Knight himself. Could she be talking about his target? Draco frantically shakes the flames out of his right hand and glares at Elesis.

"Is your brother by any chance…a Knight?"

Elesis turns around in her chair and stares suspiciously at Draco while fiddling with her mug, she glares the fighter from head to toe and frowns.

"Yes…he is. Do you know him?"

'_Haha…you could say that. What crazy luck to find someone who knows my target, plus she can use this power called magic to match my power. I wouldn't usually need a partner…but my power is nothing compared to before. As much as it disgusts me I must admit, I need help to find this Knight and his friends…and this girl can lead me right to him.'_

"Not personally, however he saved my brother back in Elder from a burning building. I truly am grateful for his courage and bravery, I wish to meet him at least once and thank him for everything." Draco lies convincingly while shedding a fake tear, Elesis smiles softly and chuckles.

"So, he saved your brother? That kid…he always did want to be the hero. It's nothing new. Well, I understand that you'd want to say thanks to him, I guess I could take you along with me."

"Oh? Are you planning on seeing him yourself?" Draco asks with faked concern while grinning secretly behind his left hand, Elesis nods enthusiastically and smiles at the fire.

"Yeah, I've left him by himself for too long now. It's about I go back to the house and see how much progress he has made."

"I understand, you may leave whenever you feel like it." Draco lies to make himself seem innocent and understanding, the Knight stares at him before rubbing her right arm and tilting her head.

"But, you know…you can tag along if you want. I would search for the person that saved my brother and say thank you if I was in your place, plus you're pretty strong. I could use your help in combat."

"Are you sure? I…wouldn't be a bother to you?"

"I guess not,"

Draco tries his very best to keep his laughter of joy under control as he gets up and shakes the Knight's hand gratefully, as Elesis turns around and observes her cracked Claymore darkness crawls and grows around his eyes and large grin, his red eyes start to glow like red lazers as he glares at the Knight as she prepares her equipment, he wanders over to the window again and laughs behind his hand as Elesis walks over to the door and puts her red shoes on, she smiles and scratches her hair.

"C'mon, we should get going as soon as possible."

The black-haired fighter gets to the door, opens it carefully and motions his hand and bows like a gentleman while laughing on the inside.

"Please, after you…"

* * *

"There's nowhere left to hide, Wally!" Elsword yells to the giant robot before the gang, they both stand outside the front gate of Wally's castle with their weapons ready. The robot begins to charge up red lazers from its hands while Aisha charges up her magic and the rest stand brave and firm. A speaker jumps out of the robot's chest and speaks to them.

"Hahahaha! Welcome, brave fighters! You've all done while to come this far, my soldiers weren't really any match for you. However, allow me to introduce you to Wally Number eight! My perfect killing machine! He'll be your escort to the afterlife." The speaker announces, the red-haired Knight squints his eyes angrily as he points his Great Sword at the robot.

"C'mon, Wally! Just what exactly are you planning on doing with the El anyway? Give it up now and no one has to get hurt!"

Aisha **[High Magician Attire]** sighs heavily before raising her strange-looking staff and prodding the Knight's back with it as the speaker ignores the Knight's comment and continues to brag.

"It's obviously a recording, you airhead. Besides, we're all stronger than we were in Ruben, we can take this thing down."

"I agree with Aisha, we can do this. We must defeat him for the people of Elder and the safety of the El." Chung concurs with the Mage's words while struggling to keep his blonde hair out of his blue eyes. Rena looks at all of them and nods understandingly as she materializes magic arrows to fire. The Sword Knight swings his Great Sword back and darts forward to the robot before them.

"This'll be over quickly, take this! Flame Geyser! Sword Wave!" The brave Knight shouts as he throws himself forward and smashes the robot with his sword and summoning a blast of flames from the ground before spinning in the air and firing a red shockwave at the robot, the robot's one red eye glares at the attacks and doesn't react. It lifts its right hand and fires a black missile. Aisha stares at the attack and raises her staff to the sky.

"I'll show you just how strong magic really is! Icicle Wave!" She yells with pride as her staff blasts a wave of ice to the missile, detonating it before hitting the Knight. She lifts her staff once again and conjures several more spells. "Flame Wave! Chain Fireball! Lightning Bolt!" She screams proudly as she fires off a wave of fire before holding out her hands in front of her and blasts out three fireballs before ending the barrage with a strong, lightning strike. Wally No. 8's circuits begin to spark and falter, Rena dashes into the battle and holds her bow and arrows out in front of herself.

"My turn. Phoenix Strike!" She cries out as she materializes a giant flame formed into a bird to fly straight into the robot's chest, the robot falls backwards slightly but easily stays on its feet, it fires its right claw to the ground and grabs the startled Elf before she could react and begins to crush her in its grasp. The Gang's eyes widen as they hear Rena screaming out in agony, Aisha shakes her head worriedly and dashes forward without thinking.

"Rena!"

"Darn it! It's got Rena now, we have to do something. Chung, give it everything you've got. We have to force it to drop her!" Elsword frantically commands the surprised Chung before hitting the robot's feet multiple times with his Great Sword in attempt to distract the robot from squeezing the Elf. Chung lifts the Destroyer off the ground and gets into his shelling stance.

"Scare Chase!" Chung yells as he charges up and fires a bright blue, homing missile at the robot, the missile collides and explodes against it but it doesn't even look at him, all the robot cared about right now was crushing the Elf in its hands. The Guardian begins to sweat crazily as he watches his allies try their very best.

"Grahh! Fatal Fury! Assault Slash! Aisha, do something!" He shouts out in panic as he refuses to end his continuous attacks to the ignoring robot, "Mortal Blow! The Knight yells as he holds the Great Sword in both of his hands and slams it into the ground forcefully as rocks and pieces of earth jump out and hit the robot. No. 8 steps backwards from all the strong attacks but forces itself to stay on its feet and continue to squeeze the Elf as she begins to scream again, Aisha tries to block the screams out and concentrate.

"I hope this works…Cyclone!" She speaks worriedly to herself as a giant, purple cyclone forms in front of her and crashes right into No. 8, the robot falls down to one knee and continues to hold and squeeze the Elf, the Knight leaps into the air and slashes his Great Sword upwards. "Spiral Blast!" He yells as a red shockwave fires away from his strike and cracks the robot's armour, the Guardian closes his eyes as the shrieks and cries of the Elf and his friends echoed in his head. Strength…he needs strength right now. He needs to be more of use…please, just give more strength…

Blue aura curls and crawls around the Guardian's armour and face, he begins to hover in mid-air as his Guardian Stone starts to glow and shine, sparking off strange, blue power. Chung's armour begins to break down as its replaced by a new one. His Destroyer forms into a different shape as black fur appears out of the Guardian's armour. Chung opens his eyes once more before flying back to the ground and smashing it with his new Destroyer. A helmet materializes around the boy's face as he dashes forward to the robot, looking completely different. **[Fury Guardian Attire] **"Brutal Swing!" The Guardian cries as he swings his Destroyer backwards and spins in a circle while smashing into No. 8's metallic body in the process. He drops his head and watches as rocks float in the air around him, he leaps upwards, opens his mouth and lets out all of his frustration and anger that was bottled inside him up until this moment.

"Pandemonium…Fear!"

The Knight and Mage stare in awe as the shout forms out of Chung's mouth and into a blue shockwave, throwing No. 8 into the sky, the robot fails to hold onto Rena any longer and is forced to let her go. She tumbles through the air before Elsword runs to where she was going to fall and catches her just in time. "Glad to see you drop in," Elsword laughs cheekily as he puts the Elf back on her feet, she smiles back gently while patting Aisha's head as she cried on the Elf's shoulders. "I should have been more careful, sorry." She replies before turning and looking at the Fury Guardian before them, Chung raises his Destroyer as he watches No. 8 crash lifelessly to the ground, he wanders over to the fallen robot as his helmet disappears and glares at its one, red eye.

"Lunatic-"

"No, don't. Calm down, Chung. It's over, it cannot move anymore. Take a deep breath." Rena whispers softly to Chung as she places her right hand on his shoulder, the Guardian hesitates before listening and putting his Destroyer back to the ground. The Gang almost fail to recognize their ally as he turns around and blushes at them. He brushes his blonde hair shyly and stares at the ground. "Sorry, maybe I went too far…"

Elsword shakes his head and walks over to the Guardian before placing his hand on Chung's other shoulder, he winks and grins happily at his friend and he begins to wander towards the motionless robot lying before them. "Don't say that, Chung! You were awesome back there! Now then, let's see where the El is in this thing…" He laughs kindly before analyzing and searching the robot's body, he shakes his head angrily as he gets up from his kneeling position and drops his head sadly.

"It's not here, it must be with Wally himself."

"What? It's not in the robot? I thought it was powered by it or something…it was really strong." Aisha says back while her eyes widen slightly.

"I guess Wally is more talented than we guessed, it looks like he can make pretty strong robots without the El, we've already searched the castle, we should probably head back to Elder and see what they can tell us about what to do next." Rena speaks thoughtfully while rubbing her hurt arm, Chung nods his head as he stares curiously at his new armour.

"Yeah, I agree….but…am I the only one that's noticed that my armour looks different?"

"It definitely does, and you were able to shout to the sky as an attack. I've never seen you do that before." Aisha replies while eyeing the Guardian closely, interested in the sudden transformation.

"Perhaps the Guardian Stone listened to my request…" He mumbles to himself in deep thought, Elsword raises an eyebrow and frowns at Chung.

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"No, I was just thinking to myself. Let's get going." Chung the Fury Guardian replies while placing a smile on his face, Aisha rubs her shoulder and glares worriedly at No. 8, Elsword looks at her and frowns again as he tilts his head to the side.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just…it's eye…I feel like…we're being watched from that eye. It's really creeping me out…" She mumbles to the gang as she shivers slightly, the Knight grins and giggles for a short time. He shrugs his shoulders and sighs cheekily.

"Fine, fine. I guess someone's getting a little paranoid." He laughs to his friends as he wanders over to the glowing eye of the dead machine, his smile becomes a worried expression instead as he stares into the eye. It's true what Aisha says, it really feels like they're being watched. The Knight raises his right fist and punches the eye, smashing it to pieces. He turns around and puts on a fake grin for the team.

"There, happy now? C'mon, let's head back to Elder!" He laughs, completely oblivious to the fact that indeed dark, red eyes were watching them all. Staring at them all hatefully, the observer grins at the man standing beside him as he begins to levitate in the air while being surrounding by dark, flickering flames. The fighter turns around and glares at Wally as his red eyes begin to glow once more.

* * *

"You want those pests dead? Consider it done."

* * *

_**The capsule forces itself open, bright yellow eyes glow in the darkness surrounding them. The person stuck inside crawls slowly out and watches as two of her loyal servants left hover happily around her. She stares at the dead, crushing bodies of her once-proud race, now scattered across the floor. She stares emotionlessly at the door at the core she was standing by, she crouches and quietly hugs the two Nasods with her as she remembers what her race was once like…and what it was reduced to. She lifts her head and quickly lets go of her only two friends. She stands up again and folds her arms as she remembers the one important rule she must never forget. One that might bring her race back from the dead, she summons a blue hologram that confirms the signal of the Nasod King. She begins to wander in the darkness as her loyal servants hover beside her. The one rule…one rule that she must follow.**_

"_A queen must never be without her king."_


	30. No 26: The Perfect Discovery

**Woo! Hello everyone, how are you doing? Thanks for your patience, here's the next chapter~! The chapter after this might take a little while longer than usual since I have a few parties scheduled to happen. Sorry! ;-; Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy~**

**Special thanks to Hyrandil and MagicalMew for following and/or favouriting, you're awesome! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

Blue, holographic screens spin and flick at the frantic touch of the Tracer's fingers, Wally and his followers glare silently at the white-haired child as he boredly skims and reads through installed data on the giant screen. The soldiers behind Wally stare anxiously at their leader as the Add turns to his black dynamos hovering beside him and begins to kick it irritatedly while cursing.

"Utter piece of scrap…to think the Nasod Armour had a time limit! To be so perfect yet to be so flawed…this is bullshit!" He hisses quietly at the Nasod Dynamos as he continues to punch and kick it like a little kid. Wally places his hand over his mouth and loudly clears his throat on purpose to get the Tracer's attention, Add's eyes narrow as he turns his head and glares at Wally with his glowing, purple eye while angrily stepping on his dynamos in a rage.

"The hell do you want?!" He yells madly at Wally while removing his foot from his creations, Wally takes a sudden step back at the startling shout. He takes a deep sigh before looking back at Add and speaking.

"I…still haven't had my thanks for saving you, you know. It's a thing called 'manners' when you say your thanks to someone that saved your life and brought you to their place."

Add looks around and glares at the room filled with differently-shaped screens and idiotic-looking men standing worriedly beside their leader, he frowns and stares back at the smug, annoying man before him. He shoves his hands into his black jacket's pockets and allows his left eye to flicker strangely with bright purple light.

"Don't expect an El-damned thanks. I would've woken up even if you hadn't found me."

"Speaking of that; _why_ exactly were you laying in the middle of the desert while unconscious? You were pretty damn lucky I had sent a recon team to that area."

Add's frown gradually turns worse and worse as he closes his eyes and remembers the fight with the strange, scarred man with the Nasod Arm and his humiliating defeat against the Taker because he hadn't researched the limits of the Nasod Armour completely. It didn't make sense that the scarred man spared the Tracer's life and instead just threw him off the ship but Add didn't care. That Taker was going to pay dearly if they were to cross paths again, Add opens his eyes again and glares at Wally before deciding to go with an uncaring shrug.

"Doesn't matter,"

"Still no thanks, huh? Whatever, I suppose. Anyway, since I saved your life I would like to make a deal with you, if you wouldn't mind." The creepy man grins strangely while staring at Add, the Tracer folds his arms, pulls a biscuit out of his right pocket and begins to munch slowly on it. He rolls his eyes and wanders carelessly around the laboratory that they were in.

"I'm listening."

"I'll cut right to the chase. I want those floating Nasod weapons that you have with you."

"Keh, don't tell me…you're interested in Nasod technology too?"

Wally's grin becomes even larger at Add's question, he rubs his hands together excitedly and nods his head to the Tracer.

"Extremely! Their codes and weaponry is exactly what my army needs right now, I was able to find small, brittle scraps left of the race while sniffing around and was able to make an average weapon for one of my strongest followers…however…just by looking at the structure of your 'Nasod Dynamos' I can tell that it's made out of much more advanced Nasod tech. So that's why I'll make a deal for them!"

Add smiles, gives another shrug, bites into the biscuit in his hand again and shakes his head.

"Kahaha! I'm afraid nothing could make me give up the dynamos, it might be my greatest creation yet, and with a system I've just installed into it to give me a powerful armour I can't afford to lose it."

"Perhaps I could change your mind…?"

"Not a chance," The Tracer cackles at the hilariously stupid question before opening a holographic screen from the Nasod Dynamos and flicking through that next, Wally grins and gives a happy shrug.

"Fine, I guess you don't want to find the king of all Nasods…"

Add's fingers immediately stop moving, he stays as still as a statue while glaring at the ground. His left eye flashes crazily with excitement, the Nasod Dynamos begin to circle and fly around its Master as Add's frown quickly transforms into a giant grin. He tilts his head over to the side lifelessly like a doll as he turns to Wally and slowly wanders to him with the biggest smile he can muster, he moves in extremely close to the man and giggles silently.

"The…king of all Nasods…you say…?" He whispers with his happiness flowing through every word exiting his mouth.

"Heh, that's right! But I won't ramble on and on about that since you don't seem to be interested…" He laughs teasingly as he slowly walks away from Add. The Tracer takes a step forward to Wally at the speed of light, startling everyone else in the room. Add grabs the man's coat and clenches it threateningly while glaring into his eyes with pure eagerness. The soldiers behind the two of them stare at each other worriedly and wonder if they should intervene, Wally stares back at Add and waves his hand to the soldiers, signaling to them to keep their cool. He forces the Tracer of him, straightens his yellow coat and grins like a fool.

"Don't you fuck with me, that information will be mine! You hear?!" He shrieks angrily as the Dynamos spin madly behind him, purple electricity curls around him as he activates the Nasod Armour.

"Calm down, calm down. I was just messing with you, I'll give you the information I know-"

Add slowly calms down as Wally asks as the Nasod Armour slowly fades away, the man smiles once more and folds his arms smartly.

"-but I want something useful in return." Wally finishes. Add glares at the man before placing his hand on his chin and wondering what he could give to Wally instead of the Nasod Dynamos. The Tracer opens up the holographic PC of the Dynamos once more before skimming quickly and eagerly through in while Wally and his men watch silently, Add grins happily once again as he selects a blueprint installed into the data, the blueprints hover out of the hologram and materializes into a real one. The Tracer holds it in his skinny hands before presenting it to the interested man, Wally snatches the blueprint before staring and reading it. He begins to laugh as he observes the incredible design of a Nasod in front of him. He shoves the blueprints into his pockets before taking a small bow for Add, he smiles as he shakes the Tracer's right hand.

"Hahaha! This is bloody amazing! If I can create something from this blueprint no one will be able to stand in my way! You have yourself a deal! We'll find the location of the core that the Nasod King is staying at together!" He exclaims happily with an excited expression on his old face, Add frowns and folds his arms, irritated.

"I thought you already knew where he was, you utter moron."

"Heh! Don't worry, I've definitely made some valuable progress. Not only do I know where the core mostly likely is, but I also found something from the energy waves emitting from that area."

"What did you find?"

Wally laughs one last time before pulling out a remote or controller of some sort and pointing it and the large screen that Add was using earlier, he presses a few buttons before multiple images appear on it.

"That." Wally answers simply as Add's eyes widen with shock. He carefully and slowly walks over to the screen and glares excitedly at it, his eye had never glowed so much in his entire life before. His surprised face eventually turns from a small grin before changing into a giant one as his insanity-filled laugh echoes through the whole room; he clenches the screen so hard that the sides begin to crack.

"Keh…kehehehe…kahaha…_kahahaha! _This truly is an El-damned find! Those yellow eyes…that white hair…that core on its forehead…she's from the books in the library…there can't be any mistake, that's the damned Queen of them all!"

"Yup, I was able to take these images without her noticing. She'll never see us coming!"

The Tracer blocks out the boring speech of Wally as he continues to brag about being the best there is, Add squints his eyes and doesn't stop staring at the images of the beautiful, womanly Nasod, to think…that a machine can look so much like a human. The Tracer hadn't believed it from the pages in one of the books from his prison but now he was seeing it with his own eyes, he raises his right hand and slowly strokes the blue screen.

"Just look how peaceful you are…I wonder how long it will take me to unravel your secrets…"

Add turns around and cracks his knuckles as the Nasod Armour crawls itself around him once more, he stares at Wally and his pathetic followers with his large grin and glowing eye.

"Let the search begin, kahahaha!"

* * *

The Sword Knight yawns tiredly as his close friends sit on the seats next to him in the circle, discussing and arguing with each other as they wait for Hoffman to arrive. Elsword leans carelessly in his comfortable seat as he quietly listens to the debate happening around him, he gives a big smile as Hoffman and his kind expression enter the room. The chief of Elder almost immediately gets bombarded with questions and shouts from the other team members, Elsword looks at him and gives a sad shrug as Hoffman coughs and scratches the top of his head.

"Alright, settle down all of you. I'll answer every question you've got one at a time."

Everyone in the El Search Party except Elsword stare at Hoffman and ask the same question in sync, Elsword gives a heavy sigh at his team.

"What do we do now?" They all ask.

"To be honest…I'm not quite sure. I'm certain Wally has the El with him, Banthus the bandit must have given it to him at some point. He's known to be very greedy but I'm sure he would've passed it on to his leader at some point. I truly thought the machine that Wally had must've been powered with it."

Aisha plays with her staff nervously at the thought of the El getting away.

"That's what I thought too," She adds while staring worriedly at her team. The door to the living room that they were all resting in suddenly swings open, Lenphad enters with the usual, grumpy look on him. He shakes his head as he joins the conversation.

"Nope, that's obviously not the case, and now I know how exactly he made the robot without it."

"How, Lenphad?" Hoffman asks curiously while raising his left eyebrow.

"Anyone heard about the Nasod?" Lenphad asks the El Search Party, everyone shakes their head except Chung. He blushes slightly as he answers.

"I know a little about them…not much, from what I remember they were some kind of ancient race that co-existed with humans until they had a war with each other, ending the race forever."

Lenphad shakes his head once more and folds his arms as he stares at the fireplace in the room.

"Yeah, pretty much. They were a robot-like race, kinda friendly too from what I heard. They had a major fallout with our race causing a war to occur, and after it they completely disappeared. They're extinct, at least…that's what people say."

"What exactly are you suggesting? Are you saying that the robot that we fought was a Nasod?" Rena asks the blacksmith while observing her new bow and clothing. **[Combat Ranger Attire]**

"Heh, I know. That's crazy, right? That's what I thought too, until the letter I just got from my older sister. Somehow she always knows the latest rumors and gossip from most of the villages in the Lurensia continent, and apparently word is going around that pieces from Wally's research was left clumsily around the path leading to the village of Altera…and one of the pieces he had left was small bits of Nasod tech."

"That's just most likely, as you just said, a rumor." Hoffman informs the blacksmith, Lenphad shrugs both of his broad shoulders at everyone.

"Just thought I should tell you."

The El Search Party stare anxiously at each other as they hear the name 'Altera'. Rena leans in forward and whispers to everyone except Hoffman and Lenphad.

"Altera…that's where that weird, masked man told us to eventually meet him…"

"Yes, he told us he wanted to talk to us there or something bad would happen to us…and now Wally might be there…" Chung whispers back while shivering quietly, remembering the dark figure.

"So? This is good, right? Not only will we finally figure out who that guy is but we might also find Wally there with his new 'Nasod' thingies! We should go for it!"

Aisha nods her head in agreement with the red-haired Knight as she grips her purple and white staff.

"It's not often that I like to say this…but I have to agree with Elsword right now. That man was more powerful than anyone we had ever seen before, if we can find out who he is…he might even join our team!"

Hoffman stares worriedly at the fighters as they continue to huddle close to each other and whisper, the leader heaves another sigh and tilts his head to the side, confused.

"Err…are you all alright?"

The team end their whispering and stare determinately at Hoffman and Lenphad as they get up from their seats and begin to lift their weapons.

"Yep, and our next destination is gonna be Altera!" Elsword the Knight laughs as he slaps Hoffman's back while exiting the door behind him.


	31. No 27: The Guard Within

**Hey! Zacaro here once again, what's up? C: Thanks for your patience for this chapter~! I hope you all enjoy!**

**Special thanks to 1447h4x0rz, ColorlessNight and EagleShire for following and favouriting! You rock! *brofist***

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

"I can't really get a good read on you."

The black-haired fighter and the red-haired Knight walk side by side through the forest while holding their weapons ready in their hands. Draco stares, completely uninterested, at his surroundings while Elesis continues to stare at him. He heaves a deep sigh and glares at his jacket.

"What do you mean?" He replies to the red-haired Knight, not really caring what she had to say, Elesis shrugs and stretches her back.

"I'm…not sure myself, there's just something about you that bothers me…"

"Uh-huh…" Draco mutters back, pretending to listen. The Knight stares harder at the fighter, making him look back at her.

"For starters, I always feel like your eyes are glowing."

"That's probably just because they're red," He quickly snaps back at Elesis, beginning to worry if the Knight was starting to catch on. Elesis sighs at the remark and folds her arms.

"But my eyes are red too."

"Then it's just your imagination,"

The Knight lowers her head and stares at the flame-covered scythe that Draco was holding before pointing at it.

"Cool-looking weapon you got there,"

"Its name is Veryx."

The red-haired Knight looks slightly startled as she backs away slowly from Draco while her eyes widen.

"Y-you…gave your weapon a name…?"

"I didn't give it any name, Veryx is what it is addressed by." The black-haired fighter sighs as he glares at Elesis while squinting his eyes. He didn't like this Knight, not one bit.

"Right…" Elesis mumbles back to Draco, pretending to understand his explanation. She raises her Claymore and swings it in front of her to get rid of the vines in their way, Draco follows behind her carefully, not really talking that much. Elesis shrugs, it doesn't bother her.

"There's just one more question I want to ask," The Knight quickly adds while giving Draco a short smile, the fighter directs his vision back to Elesis and listens.

"What?"

"…Why do you look like a girl…?" She questions Draco curiously, the fighter stops walking and gives an annoyed groan, he glares back at Elesis and hisses.

"Out of all the questions you could of asked, and that's what you went with."

The bushes around the two rapidly and frantically begin to move and shake, Draco grips the handle of Veryx while Elesis gets herself into a ready position, several Phorus leap out from the bushes and trees happily with their backpacks strapped to their small backs. One of them stands out in front of the group, a Phoru with a spiky hairstyle, with a stick on fire in his hands. The leader Phoru glares at the two fighters with their strange-looking weapons. He advances and chuckles at them.

"Hey, drop everything you've got right now and nobody has to get hurt!" The leader cries threateningly while stupidly waving the stick in his hands into the air, the other Phorus slowly take slow steps forward to the two fighters as they wait for them to give in, Draco sighs once more and stares at Elesis.

"To my knowledge, these weak creatures are named…Phorus…am I correct?" He asks while carelessly admiring his scythe, the Knight nods and smiles back at Draco while readying herself for the fight.

"Yep, they're pretty much everywhere in this area. What a bad timing too, we're almost to the house." She replies while beginning to worry about her brother once again, she should have never left him alone in that house. Draco glares wordlessly at Elesis' smile as the Phorus approach even closer to them. What was she happy about? Is this what they call the thrill of a fight?

Elesis raises her Claymore and lungs straight towards the startled Phorus, she swings her sword forward and slashes them with blinding speed, Draco shakes his head as the foolish creatures that weren't fighting the Knight quickly run towards him, he lifts up his right hand and stares at his only companion. Veryx.

"Let's crush these pathetic mortals," Draco mutters quietly to his scythe before holding it in front of him angrily, "Dancing Flames!" He screams as he watches three waves of fire blast out of Veryx and home in onto the suddenly-terrified Phorus, his smile finally reveals itself as he observes his flames curl and crawl onto the flesh of the sad creatures and slowly bites down and seeps into their organs. He raises his left hand and clenches it into a fist while glaring at the Phorus.

"Dissappear…" He mumbles as the Phoru burst into flames around him, he swings Veryx backwards before cutting and slashing brutally in front of him. The fire-covered scythe slices clean through the bodies of the creatures, their body parts fling into the air around him as he relentlessly continues to attack them, Draco places pressure into his feet before jumping into the sky. He points Veryx at the rest of the Phorus and allows both of his eyes to glow like robotic lazers, he grins again before attacking them.

"Flame Storm," He mutters as meteors of fire rocket down from the sky like rain, Elesis swings her sword a few more times before looking at the sky above her, she smiles as she watches the balls of flames crash into the Phorus near Draco's position.

"Well, looks like he's better than I thought." She laughs to herself before redirecting her attention back to the Phorus in front of her, she lifts her Claymore once more and swings it strongly in the air as fire emits from her sword. "Wild Shock!"

The Phorus fly back from the incredible attack from the red-haired Knight, she immediately darts forward and continues her strikes by slamming her Claymore into the ground beneath the creatures, "Mega Burster!" She cries as fire blasts crazily from the floor and completely engulfs the Phorus. Draco glares as the stunning pillar of fire bursts from out of the ground, her power with fire impressed him slightly.

"It's time to wrap things up here," Draco mutters as he lands along the confident-looking Elesis while she advances to the last few Phorus, Draco raises Veryx into the air and watches as orange, rapid fire spins around him like a tornado, the Phorus quickly lift their hands into the air and surrender.

"N-no! We give up, don't hurt us!" One of the small group of Phorus yells worriedly, Draco shrugs as a response and gets ready to reduce them to ashes, Elesis raises her hand and places it calmly onto his shoulders while shaking her head.

"Don't, Draco. They've surrendered."

The black-haired fighter turns his head around and glares angrily at the Knight but reluctantly does as she asks, Elesis walks up closer to the cowardly Phorus before pointing at the forest again with an irritated expression on her face.

"Scram," She commands, the Phorus quickly nod their heads and dart away from the scene. Draco watches wordlessly as Veryx slowly dematerializes out of his right hand, he turns away and doesn't look at Elesis.

"We shouldn't have spared them," He hisses as he begins to walk again, entering the depths of the forest once more. The red-haired Knight following behind him shrugs carelessly at the fighter's remark and sighs.

"That's your opinion. Anyway, keep up the pace. I'm recognizing this area now, we're almost at my house. You can say your thanks to my brother and we can all be on our way."

Draco grins secretly at the reply of the Knight and starts to laugh inside hysterically.

Yes.

Soon.

* * *

Lu yawns effortlessly as she wanders carelessly out of the brown tent, she rubs her eyes weakly as her clothes change from her pajamas back to her normal attire. It had already been several weeks that they had been in this camp. While their progress with the demons was going very slowly she was still happy to be able to relax and get some sleep while Ciel fought the regular waves of demons each night. She was glad about it, it was gradually toughening him. She fully opens her adorable eyes and looks around the training field outside of the tent. A small, proud smile spreads along her tiny face as she spots Ciel over with Lento, the two leap around the field rapidly with their weapons drawn, exchanging blow for blow.

"Hehe, looks like they've started the sparring without me. I guess I slept a little too long, huh?" She giggles to herself as she watches the assassin get thrown backwards clumsily from a direct blow from Lento, she closes her eyes and folds her arms as she walks over to the fallen, panting Ciel with pure disappointment written all over her face. The assassin grimaces from the pain before opening his eyes to see Lu. He smiles calmly while lying on the ground.

"Oh, you're finally up. Took you a while, you know." He chuckles as he struggles to get back up, Lento slowly wanders over to the two of them while carelessly staring at his sword.

"Morning, Lu. We've been sparring for a while now, and while I don't really want to say this, your friend definitely needs some practice." He states emotionlessly as he waits for the assassin to get back up.

"Hear that, Ciel? You're lacking skill, and no servant of mine can do that! Stand up and fight, I command you!" She yells angrily to Ciel with overwhelming authority, Ciel stares at his Master for a few seconds before giving his familiar, serious-looking expression as he leaps to his feet. He holds the two Gunblades with confidence as he begins to advance to Lento.

"Understood. I shall become stronger. I must if I want to serve you better," He speaks sharply to the Demon Lord behind him as he stares at Lento, he starts to pick up speed until he reaches a running pace, Lento shrugs boredly once more before raising his sword and pointing it at the incoming assassin. Ciel leaps into the and points both of his Gunblades to the Knight below, "Flick Shot!" He shouts as a giant, blue disc of energy hurdles towards Lento with incredible speed, the Knight watches wordlessly at the attack before back-flipping out of the way of it. His eyes widen as the assassin appears right before him as he lands, the Knight tries to raise his sword in time but fails.

'_How…how did he land to the ground so quickly, I only dodged that attack half a second ago!' _He whispers to himself as two, brutal slashes from the sharp edges of Ciel's Gunblades cause him to fall backwards, the assassin wastes no time before darting towards Lento once more. The Knight immediately lands on his feet and watches Ciel stab his right Gunblades forward like a knife, Lento observes the attack in slow motion before grabbing Ciel's wrist before he can stab the Knight and chucking him away like a tissue. The assassin lands painfully on his back, he opens his eyes to see Lu glaring at him once again, angrily. Ciel grimaces as he struggles to get back on his feet.

"Huh, déjà vu." He laughs quietly and weakly to Lu as he eventually stands again, Lento sheathes his sword as he sees Ciel do so to his Gunblades. He shakes his head as he reaches the Duo.

"Sorry to say, Ciel, but this simply isn't working well for you. Your speed is no problem, however your attacks lack…power. You cut me twice in rapid succession and I couldn't dodge it since you were so fast, but it didn't have any power in it. Because of that I quickly recovered and counterattacked your next move." Lento speaks sadly as he stares at the assassin, Ciel rubs the back of his head while looking at his ashamed Master before turning his back to them.

"I'm sorry, I'm not good enough."

"No, don't say things like that! You might not be that strong now, but once you keep training with Lento here you should improve a lot." Lu tells Ciel kindly while giving one of her usual, cheeky grins, Lento nods in agreement while folding his arms.

"Ineed, Lu is right. It might take some time and a few more sparring lessons, but give it a couple of weeks, let's say…three or four, and I'm sure that you'll-" Lento begins to state to Ciel as encouragement before quickly stopping mid-sentence, Lu's and Ciel's eyes widen slightly as they both stare at the surprised-looking Knight, Lu tilts her head to the side and makes a frown.

"What's wrong? Why'd you stop?" She asks curiously, Ciel closes his eyes and unsheathes his Gunblades once more, sensing the danger around them. Lento glares at the Lu worriedly.

"Don't you feel that? There's strong vibrations coming from the ground," Lento speaks quietly to Lu as he unsheathes his trusty sword, the tent near to them shuffles and moves as Allegro slowly pops his head outside, his face showing his fear.

"W-w-whats…going on?" He questions the three fighters outside of the tent nervously, Lento directs his glare at the kid and shows an angry but worried expression to him.

"Stay inside the tent." He commands Allegro, the kid cocks his head to the side slightly and becomes more nervous.

"W-why? What's g-g-going on?"

"_Stay inside the tent, Allegro!" _Lento shouts furiously with frightening volume, Allegro does what the Knight says after sensing his worry and disappears inside the tent, the ground in front of them begins to vanish, rocks fly and rocket through the air as someone, _something, _crawls out from below. A dark figure in heavy-looking armour forces itself out of the ground and onto its feet, Lento's eyes widen as they finally get a clear look at the demon before them.

"A…a giant, headless…Knight?!" Lento shouts in confusion and sudden fear at the sight that he was seeing, Lu grins at the giant Knight and summons both of her demonic claws while smiling at the assassin and the startled Knight.

"Yep, I recognize this guy. His name is the Dullahan Knight, tough guy if I remember correctly. He served me multiple times back in the day, but he's not really all that strong. Still, this is good opportunity to use my true power once again!" She giggles excitedly as her clothes begin to glow, bright blue lights spark uncontrollably out of her as a hoodie appears around her while her shoes and shorts change slightly as well, her black crown materializing on top of her small head. **[Chiliarch Attire]**

"Stand back and watch in amazement, Ruinous Impact!" She screams with determination as she darts towards the headless demon, the Dullahan grunts and shuffles around before raising its sword slashing forward at the incoming Demon Lord's claw. The giant claw turns into a large fist and punches the Dullahan, bouncing off its shield and leaving a small crack in it. The Chiliarch lifts her left demonic and attempts to punch the headless Knight herself. Dullahan raises its shield once more and blocks Lu's attack. It leaps backwards and stabs its sword into the ground, summoning deadly spikes out of the ground. Lu jumps into the air and barely dodges the attack. Lento frowns nervously as he advances to the demon.

"I'll…have to fight this thing myself, it's the strongest demon we've come across so far-" Lento starts to speak to the Duo as Lu lands beside them, Ciel places his hand on the Knight's shoulder and shakes his head with concern.

"No, let us handle this. We'll take care of it, you need to stay with Allegro and make sure he's alright. If you lose him, all of the research that you conducted on the demons here will mean nothing,"

Lento stares at the assassin for a few seconds before looking at the ground and shaking his head back at Ciel.

"But…are you sure you two can-"

"Trust me, Lento. Get to the tent."

Lento glares at Lu and Ciel a little while longer before nodding his head reluctantly and dashing towards the green tent, Lu pulls the hoodie off her head as she walks over to the incoming, headless Knight with her servant alongside her.

"Pretty heroic of you, Ciel. Why'd you tell him to retreat?"

The assassin stares wordlessly at his Master as he tightly holds the Gunblades in his hands, he raises both of them and points it at the Dullahan, Lu shrugs her shoulders carelessly after realizing that he wasn't going to answer her question. She begins to run again and collects blue energy around her arms.

"Whatever, Terror Chain!" She yells furiously as she slashes the body of the demon Knight while in the air again, she holds her demonic claws downwards as the Dullahan takes a few steps backwards from the attack, "Stomp!" She laughs as she slams the headless Knight into the ground with her claws. The Dullahan quickly gets up, much faster than Lu had anticipated, and smacks her away from itself. Lu falls back onto the floor and cries in pain before leaping back up and darting towards it once more.

"Lu, wait! We _both _need to attack it if we wish to-" Ciel begins to shout worriedly at the attacking Demon Lord.

"Shut up! I can do this, Strong Strike!" She screams back to her servant as she punches at the Dullahan's shield as hard as she can, purple energy curls and spins around the shield as demonic energy is collected in it, the headless Knight takes a large step backwards before pointing the shield at the tired Lu. A giant stream of energy blasts out of the shield and collides with the Demon Lord, Ciel's eyes widen as he hears his Master's yelp of agony as she crashes into the ground. The servant immediately dashes towards to the fallen Chiliarch, he kneels next to her and holds her anxiously in his arms. He begins to shake her with fear.

"Lu! _Lu!"_ He yells as he continues to shake her body, Lu's eyes slowly and weakly open as she gives him a faint smile. Her body begins to feel cold.

"Is even the power of Terror…not enough…?" She whispers to Ciel as she's forced to cough out crimson blood from her tiny mouth, the servant closes his eyes and tries his best to keep the tears in them from rolling down his cheek. He softly lays his Master onto the floor and raises his Gunblades while glaring at the Dullahan.

"No, this is my fault. All mine. I haven't been strong enough, as your servant I should dispose of such threats as easily and as quickly as possible. I must do this myself, I must become a better servant to you if you are to reach your goal. Being your butler…it hasn't been easy…however, you've giving me a reason to live. Finally I can live because I have someone to serve, before I only lived because of my nature desire to do so. But since I met you…"

"Ciel…a-are…you saying…you're happy being my butler…?" She speaks quietly to Ciel as she's forced to spit out more of her blood. The servant looks back to look at Lu as the Dullahan Knight runs towards him, he gives a short smile and nods.

"Hmph, playing the role of a butler isn't too bad," He chuckles quietly as the Dullahan swings its sword downwards at him, Ciel raises his right Gunblade and intercepts it effortlessly. He grips the other Gunblade and cuts brutally into the headless Knight's armour, the demon shrieks madly as it jumps back, revealing the large crack in its chest. The Dullahan grunts a couple more times before slowly raising its shield and allows more purple energy to circle around in front of it. Lu's eyes widen as she watches the Dullahan charge up another lazer, she struggles to get up onto her feet and yelps again with pain.

"Ciel! Get…out…of the way!" She pants to the motionless servant, he turns his head again to show a surprisingly calm smile. He instead walks towards the stationary Dullahan as he observes the lazer blast out of the shield and rocket towards him, he closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths.

"C-Ciel…you're glowing…" Lu coughs at her servant, the assassin stares in awe at himself as a large blaster materializes into both of his hands, he holds the heavy gun in his hands before nodding to himself and pointing it at the incoming, demonic blast.

"_Krraaaah!" _He screams at the top of his lungs as a rapid, blue barrage of bullets blaze out of the blaster and collide into the lazer, detonating it before it reaches him. The Dullahan drops its sword as it sees the servant still standing, Ciel glares curiously at the weapon in his hands before giving his determined stare at the headless Knight before him.

"Disappear," He commands emotionlessly as he watches the Dullahan burst into flying parts as the second barrage from the blue blaster consumes it, Ciel **[Royal Guard Attire] **stares wordlessly as the blaster vanishes out of his hands as he wanders over to the standing Chiliarch, Lu looks at her servant with pure shock in her eyes.

"…Not only did your transformation change your look so much…but it completely healed me in the process! This contract truly is unpredictable, huh?" She tells her Ciel while giving him her usual cheeky smile, the servant nods while staring curiously at his new clothing.

"I'm guessing this is the result of the contract strengthening?" He questions his Master, she nods her head and tilts her head to the side.

"That's right, if we keep making this contract stronger…who knows what'll happen? Isn't that exciting?"

"I suppose so,"

"Get used to that new weapon of yours by the way, it'll come in handy for sure~!" She giggles happily.

"Oh, right. What was that anyway? I was never able to summon weapons at will before."

"Every demon gets one unique weapon that they obtain once they reach a certain extent of power, mine was these claws, and it seems for you it's a machine gun of some sort."

"I see, understood. I'll quickly learn how to use this new tool for you." Ciel states as he gradually sheathes his Gunblades, Lu stares at Ciel's new attire for a few more seconds before laughing like a small child and wandering cheerfully back to the tent.

"Heh, you're becoming a more pleasant butler to me every day! You make your Master proud!" She giggles with pride as Ciel follows behind her.

The Royal Guard and the Chiliarch advance over to the camp and the green tent, greeted by the relieved faces of Lento and Allegro as they slowly step out of the tent.

"All done! Let's eat something now, preferably some cake~!" The Chiliarch laughs at the two.


	32. No 28: Dark Thoughts

**Hello again, how's it going everyone? I'd just like to announce that this we've reached 7000+ views on this story, it's all thanks to you! C:**

**Special thanks to PixeliteMC for following and favouriting, you're the best! C:**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter C:**

* * *

"Can't sleep?" Rena giggles quietly as Elsword sits up from the sleeping bag he was sleeping in, the Knight rubs his eyes weakly as the others sleep peacefully inside the tent. Rena sits up on the opposite side of the tent from Elsword as Aisha and Chung lie between them, Elsword nods slowly and gives a tired smile.

"Heh, I really wish I could. I'm beat." Elsword whispers weakly at Rena while stretching his back, Rena shakes her head and sighs quietly.

"That makes both of us, my mind simply can't rest tonight." She replies back to Elsword as she begins to play with her long, green hair. She pulls the small entrance to the tent open for a second to peek outside before closing it again. "We're almost out of Bethma now, just a few hours' worth of walk and we should reach Altera around tomorrow afternoon." Rena continues, trying to get her mind off something. Elsword shrugs and scratches the back of his head while yawning.

"I wonder what that man wanted with us…but I guess we'll found out soon, right?" He speaks as he starts to worry about what the masked man might want from them, Chung begins to shuffle around in his sleeping bag before opening his eyes and sitting up as well, Rena's eyes widen slightly at him.

"Oh, dear… did we wake you up…?" Rena whispers worriedly to Chung, Chung stays silent for a few seconds before shaking his head and giving a kind grin.

"No, you didn't. I can't sleep either."

Aisha quickly sits up and begins to rub her arms, giving everyone an angry frown, Elsword takes a deep sigh as the Mage starts to complain.

"Honestly, why do we have to sleep in the middle of a desert?! I'm being frozen alive out here! We should've kept moving, it wasn't much further! Now none of us can even get some shuteye…" She hisses angrily to the team, Chung shuffles around on his sleeping bag uncomfortably as he turns his gaze away from his friends.

"Actually…that's not the reason I can't sleep…" He mutters shyly and quietly to everyone, Rena's face wears an anxious expression as she turns her gaze away as well.

"Yeah, me too. I can't stop thinking about what we might find in that village. That strange man told us to come to Altera if we want to be safe…but…I'm just having my doubts. I can't help it."

Aisha places her hand on Rena's shoulder as she calms herself down, Rena and Chung look back at the team as Aisha begins to speak.

"I'm afraid too, you know. But we've got to stay strong, we'll have to take on whatever waits for us there as bravely as we can," Aisha smiles supportively to her friend, Rena gives her own smile and nods to her. Elsword allows his familiar, proud smile to appear on his face.

"Here, here!" He chuckles happily, Chung laughs and nods his head as well. Elsword's smile slowly vanishes though when he begins to remember what the strange man had told them. Chung looks at Elsword and recognizes what he's thinking about.

"We'll have to be cautious about the two fighters he warned us about though, we must be ready if they strike." Chung states firmly to the team, everyone else gives a determined stare and nod quietly in unison. Aisha yawns again as she observes her staff before gradually lying down again.

"I'm going to try to get some rest," She mumbles as she curls up like a ball into her sleeping bag, Rena gives both Chung and Elsword a short giggle before doing the same. Chung turns to Elsword and smiles at him happily.

"Well, goodnight." He whispers kindly to the Knight as he lies down on his sleeping bag and closes his eyes, Elsword is the only one left sitting up. He turns to and looks at his Great Sword beside him, thinking about Wally and the strange man that could both be waiting for their arrival. He shakes his head with a grin before doing the same as his friends and getting into his own sleeping bag once more. Elsword closes his eyes with a smile on his face as his thoughts slowly and softly drift away into a dream, whatever was at Altera that he had to fight he was certain that he'd be ready for it.

"Don't worry, Sis. Your training will keep me safe for sure…" He mutters quietly to himself as the winds crawling across Bethma flow round the tent, creating soothing and soft sounds as the El Search party finally get some well-deserved sleep.

* * *

"He's not here!" Elesis cries worriedly as she searches the house in the forest, tears flowing her face as she moves to every room with frantic, shaking hands. Draco begins to curse angrily as he stands outside the house being searched, he shakes his head and yells to the Knight.

"Then coming here was nothing but a waste of time!" He shouts madly at Elesis as he feels his anger building up gradually inside him, he summons Veryx into the palm of his right hand before furiously stabbing it into the ground in front of him in a tantrum.

"I don't need you to say that right now!" She yells back to him as she quickly steps out of the house and holds her head in her hands while sitting on the grass, "Elsword…oh dear El…where are you…?" She whispers to herself anxiously as Draco forces Veryx to disappear, he walks over to Elesis and glares at her.

"Where else could he be?" He questions the worried Knight, Elesis stares at Draco before looking down at the ground and shaking her head.

"I have no clue,"

"Dammit! If he's not here then-" Draco begins to shout angrily at the sky before being interrupted by the sound of a mirror cracking, he turns and looks at the source of the sound. A man covered in a black cloak steps slowly out of what seems to be a portal, the man chuckles with delight as he hides in the shadows of the trees in front of Draco.

_**That's really the least of your concerns, Draco.**_

"W-what?! Who are you…and how do you know my name?!" He asks the shadowy man with anger as the man slowly starts to walk out of the shadows, the voice laughs at the question.

_**It's funny, I thought you'd recognize me. Haven't you met someone like me before…?**_

Draco stays silent for a couple of seconds while glaring, his eyes suddenly widen as he remembers the man standing before him, fire flickers in his eyes and around his body as he begins to smile back at the cloaked man.

"Oh, you…how could I forget about you? Haha, we've got a rematch to do. You stopped my perfect plan, and I don't really appreciate that," The boy laughs at the shadowy man as Veryx appears in his hand, Elesis carefully gets up from the ground and stares at the two of them.

"D-do you…two…know each other?" Elesis questions Draco and the cloaked man while wiping her tears as they slowly advance towards each other, Draco glares at the man before him and doesn't turn around.

"He's just somebody I'm about to rip into a million pieces," Draco hisses as his response, the shadowy man laughs hysterically at the remark.

_**Oh, you truly sound confident. Such bravado, I'd like to see you try to rip me apart.**_

"With pleasure," Draco laughs back at the man, fire burns off his flesh as he raises Veryx high up into the sky and darts towards his target.

"Scorching Detonation!"

* * *

"Is it safe to come out?" Wally yells with fear from behind a boulder as the Tracer glares at the remaining pieces of the scorpion-shaped Nasod, Add turns around for half a second and nods to Wally before looking at the dead Nasod once more. He raises his left hand and snaps his fingers as he leans on the Nasod Dynamos, summoning the machine's blue hologram. He begins to quickly tap and swipe on the floating screen as Wally slowly walks over to him, Add's left eye flickers in a purple light as he starts to curse madly.

"What's wrong? Did you get anything from the Nasod?" Wally questions the Tracer, Add leans more on the Dynamos behind him and shakes his head in clear disappointment.

"Nothing, every damned code that was left in it were simple ones that even an amateur could get his hands on! These Nasods are nothing like the ones that I remember…the 'Altera Core' better have more advanced Nasods than this pile of scrap!" He snaps furiously at Wally before tapping on the holographic screen once more, Wally shakes his head and grins while pointing to the massive, dark hole leading underground near to them.

"Well…at least we've actually _found _the core. Those Nasod weapons of yours destroyed everything stopping us on our way here, however down _there…_even your Dynamos might not be enough, you know." Wally speaks to Add, making sure that he knew what they were about to go into. Add glares at Wally for the longest time before swinging his head backwards and laughing.

"There can't be anything in there that can surpass the Nasod Armour! Even the King and Queen won't stand a chance, _kahaha!"_

Wally chuckles amusingly at the Tracer's words, he places his hands on his hips and takes a deep sigh while staring back at the way they came from, Add stops his laughter and glares at the hill that Wally is observing and frowns as he witnesses the sun slowly set behind the large hill. Add curses under his breath as he flicks his wrist, causing the Nasod Dynamos' holographic PC to disappear before shaking his head in anger. Wally turns around as he stuffs his right hand into his pocket, he closes his eyes for a few seconds, as though in deep thought, before grinning at Add.

"Say…you think we can rest out here for the night? We can head underground into that core first thing in the morning." Wally smiles sheepishly, Add stares at the foolish man, irritated.

"What? You want us to stop just as we've finally found this El-damned place?! Don't be an idiot, we're heading down there right now!" He yells furiously at Wally before quickly and angrily dashing towards the hole leading to the core, he turns around and hisses at Wally, "Get over here or I'm leaving you behind!" He shouts out before suddenly holding his head, everything starts to spin around him and become fuzzy. Add shakes his head and rubs his eyes in hope of fixing his vision but to no avail. Wally chuckles once more as he wanders over to the dizzy Add.

"See? You've been punching, kicking and blasting enemies all day, and you haven't had any rest since I found you unconscious in that desert. Surely you'll need some sleep."

"Bah, fine! We'll take a few hours of rest, then we head straight to the core. Got it?!" He screams madly at Wally as his vision slowly goes back to normal, Wally quickly nods his head before pulling a small, electronic device out of his pocket. He presses a button on the side of it before chucking it on the floor in front of him, the device gradually stretches and expands, eventually turning into a tiny, white tent. He pulls out another small device and holds it out for Add.

"Want one?"

Add glares at the small electronic device before sighing and turning around, he opens up his holographic computer once more before quickly typing in a command into it.

"No,"

"A-are you sure? It's not very smart to sleep without a-" He starts to question Add before the Nasod Dynamos frantically begin to fly around the Tracer, they hover in front of Add before forming a straight line. Add starts to stretch his arms out as he sits on them, Wally tilts his head to the side and raises his left eyebrow.

"You're going to sleep on _that? _That doesn't look comfortable at all,"

"Wally, seriously. Piss off and go to sleep in your stupid tent already, I've had enough of your endless blabbering for one day." Add hisses as he gradually begins to lay on the bed of Dynamos beneath him, Wally stares at the Tracer as he lies on his Nasod Dynamos like a bed before eventually shrugging and entering his miniature tent.

Add lies uncomfortably on the hovering Dynamos as he senses his eyelids slowly become more and more heavy, his left eye stops glowing as he starts to stare at the sky above him, it slowly turns dark as the starry sky sparkles with light, Add reluctantly closes his eyes. Finally, he could rest. Yes, some rest would do him some good. He has a whole day tomorrow of crushing and researching Nasods…even the King and Queen of them all…yes…it will be…wonderful. An excited smile spreads along his face as he wonders what kind of discovers he would make…

…however it eventually begins to turn into a frightened frown as his dream starts to form into something else…something much darker.

**A nightmare.**


	33. No 29: The Worst Kind Of Nightmare

"Mom?"

The white-haired child wanders over slowly through the fires blazing and spreading around the ground, yelping with fear as pieces of the buildings around him almost crush him as they crumble downwards. The child places his small hands over his ears as the screams, shrieks and cries of agony begin to torture him as he walks deeper into the chaos. He starts to pick up the pace while continuously calling out for his mother, he trips over a rock on the ground and falls flat on his face, causing his nose to bleed slightly. The boy gives up and doesn't bother to attempt to get back on his feet, he buries his face into the soil beneath him and weeps loudly as heavy footsteps close in on him, he raises his head to the sky to call out for his parents one more time but hesitates as he sees a hand held out in front of him, he wipes his tears out of his eyes and stares worriedly at the figure next to him, a soft, gentle smile rests on the woman's face as she extends her hand slightly further.

"Dear me…why are you on the ground like that? Get up so I can look at your nose." She kindly and quiets speaks to the boy as he takes her hand and forces his tiny body to its feet, she places her left index finger on the child's nose before giving her calm smile once again. "It looks like you'll be fine, but you must be more careful from now on, okay sweetie?"

"Mom…why…why is everyone screaming? Why is everything on fire? Where's daddy? What's going on?!" The boy cries out in confusion as he leaps forwards to his mother and hugs her as tightly as he can, the white-haired woman hugs the boy back and softly begins to stroke his hair.

"I'm sorry, Add. This wasn't supposed to happen, all we ever did was try to find out more about a race…and it seems they just aren't happy with that." She says sadly and anxiously as her calm smile fails to stay on her face, she lets go of their hug and holds the boy's hand as they quickly run into a small house that's still intact. She holds the boy close to her as they kneel closely together in the darkness, the boy wipes away a few more tears before looking at his mother and speaking again.

"What's going to happen? Will everyone be alright?" The boy questions his mother as he begins to shake and shiver, his mother forces herself to put on a fake smile and lie to the child.

"Yes, everything will be fine. I'm sure everyone has hidden somewhere just like we are, those robots are just angry, that's all. Once they're not angry anymore they'll leave and everything will go back to normal, everything shall be…" She begins to speak frantically as the sounds of the explosion draw nearer and nearer, she stops herself from lying any longer and squeezes her son's small shoulders and begins to cry. "Hey, sweetheart? Remember when you told me you wanted to grow up to be an amazing runner?" She smiles weakly to the child, the boy tilts his head slightly and nods.

"Y-yeah…why?"

"Well, lets play a little game while we wait for the robots outside to calm down. I want you to go out of that exit right there and run as fast as you can, mommy wants to see just how much of a good runner you are."

"B-but what about you?"

The mother turns her head away for a second and forces herself to keep the tears in her eyes from rolling down her face, with every last ounce of strength her has in her she places one last, reassuring smile on her and kisses her son on the cheek.

"Don't worry about mom, I'm a very fast runner too. I'll be right behind you, we'll race, okay sweetie? I'll give you a headstart." She mumbles to the boy as she diverts her vision away from him before turning him around and pushing him, the boy listens to his mother and begins to bolt out of the small hole in the house, he doesn't turn around and calls for his mother as he begins to run faster and faster.

"Mom, are you behind me?"

"Yes, dear! I'm very close to you, run faster or I'll over take you!" She yells out to the oblivious child as she watches him leave the building, the boy pants heavily as he dashes through the smoke and fire, clumsily dodging the blasts of energy around him, the boy begins to slow down and eventually stop once he was no longer in the village, he turns himself around while breathing deeply, expecting the calm and gentle smile of his mother to greet him.

But it wasn't there.

The boy's eyes widen as he sees the village in the far distance, bursts of fire and rocks shoot out from the area, he shakes his head and screams out for his mother.

"Mom! MOM!" He shrieks as he starts to run back to the village, the ground beneath him begins to vibrate and shake as the boy continues to dash back to the distant village, a voice chuckles happily in the child's head as he struggles to keep running.

**Do you really think you can save them?**

The child holds his tiny hands over his ears as he starts to run faster and faster, the voice sighs in disappointment as it realizes that the boy was trying to ignore it, it laughs louder this time before taunting the boy again.

**Just look at you, you're nothing but a small child…what do you hope to do even if you reach your precious village in time…? Are you planning on fighting the Nasod?! Ha! They would rip you to shreds without putting in the least amount of effort, give up…you fool!**

"Mommy, she's still there! I'll save her, I have to save her!" The boy shouts back with tears in his eyes, the voice chuckles one last time, this one being the most quiet one out of all of them, before immediately teleporting in front of the child. The dark, human-like figure darts so fast to the boy that he couldn't really tell what the dark figure was, the dark figure grabs the boy's head with incredible force before whispering words into the child's ear that the child never wanted to hear.

* * *

_**You can't.**_

* * *

"Krahhhh!" Add shrieks in anger and confusion as he frantically leaps off the bed of Nasod Dynamos, he clenches his black jacket and begins to pant heavily. He raises his right hand and wipes his palm on his forehead and sighs weakly, he was drenched in sweat. He shakes his head and glares angrily at the Dynamos as he continues to pant, he stares at his surroundings as he remembers where he was…Altera. The Tracer's left eye starts to glow as he begins to talk to himself.

"It…it was all…an El-damned dream…just a dream. I'm fine, it was nothing…I'm…I'm alright. No, I'm better than alright…I'm brilliant…I'm bloody brilliant! Kahaha!" He cackles as his usual, large grin spreads across his face once more as his insanity takes over again. He smiles and laughs for a few more seconds before staring at the hole leading to the core he and Wally had worked so hard on finding, he sighs one more time before irritatedly wandering over to Wally's portable tent and pulling the small entrance on it open.

"What?! The tent's empty?! Where did that little bastard go?!" He screams with hate as he begins to search the small tent but all he found was a few…'questionable' magazines and some red health potions, Add's eye glows brighter than before as pure anger starts to seep into him, he glares at the Nasod Dynamos before snapping his fingers as he quickly walks over to the hole.

"Dynamos! Get into battle mode, NOW!" He shouts madly as the Nasod Dynamos obey and hover over to Add's side, he reaches the hole and yells to the sky with hate.

"I'll rip your goddamned heart out, Wally! Kruaaahhh!" He shrieks with incredible volume as the Nasod Armour crawls onto and covers Add's body. He hisses and cries a few more curses before leaping on his Dynamos and flying down into the Altera Core below.

* * *

"So," Raven the Taker mutters silently as the El Search Party reach the top of the airship, Elsword holds out his Great Sword confidently out in front of him as Chung pushes his blonde hair out of his eyes and starts to reload the Destroyer, Aisha conjures a magic symbol on the floor beneath her as Rena stretches out her legs, getting ready for the fight. Raven turns his head slightly to the team of powerful fighters and glares angrily at them with his yellow eyes. "Another group of fighters…" The scarred man finishes as he completely turns himself around to stare at the fighters, Chung raises his cannon and gets into a shelling position as he looks at Raven.

"The Ponggos told us everything the moment we arrived, you've terrorized so many people. We're putting a stop to you!" Chung cries out bravely to Raven as the man glares back at all of them.

"How did you even make it onto this airship?" Raven questions the fighters quietly, Elsword gives a goofy grin at the man before giving the answer.

"You can thank Agatha for that, he has his ways." Elsword replies cheekily before quickly putting on his serious face again as Raven starts to slowly walk to them with his Nasod Arm gradually turning into a fist. Aisha begins to stare at her teammates with worry.

"Do…do you think we can take on this guy? Adel said he's one of the most strongest fighters out there…" She whispers quietly to Rena as she finishes collecting her magic, Rena slowly turns her head to Aisha and whispers back.

"As long as we all attack him at once we should be fine…just cover each other and watch his attacks carefully…"

"I have promised revenge…_and I shall not be denied!_" Raven yells as he darts straight towards Elsword, the Sword Knight raises his sword in front of him as Raven starts to punch continuously at him, Elsword smacks his Great Sword into the Taker before swinging it upwards at him.

"Too bad, I'm not letting you do that! Spiral Blast!" He yells back to Raven as he slashes upwards to the sky, creating a red shockwave that crashes right into the Taker. Raven growls in pain before quickly landing back on his feet and striking Elsword with his blade, Elsword blocks three of Raven's blade attacks but fails to intercept the last one, Aisha grips the handle of her staff and dashes confidently at the two of them before waving her right hand around her.

"Circle Flame!" She shouts as she unleashes several fireballs that quickly revolve around her, blasting right into Raven, he screams angrily as the flames begin to burn him as he flies backwards, Chung quickly turns to Rena and nods his head.

"C'mon, Rena! Let's do this! Steel Edge!" He shouts to his teammate as he strikes Raven with his Destroyer, spinning him around on his heels to face the other way. The Destroyer then fires into Raven's back before sending him into the air, he shakes his head and lands to the ground, only to be greeting by the incoming Elf.

"Right, Spinning Kick!" She exclaims with motivation as she raises her legs in front of her and flies forward like a missile, Raven lifts his Nasod Arm forward and hisses.

"Don't underestimate me!" He yells as he runs straight for Rena's attack, he grabs her by the legs before she can land the hit on him as he angrily tosses her up into the air, Elsword darts forwards and prepares himself for another attack, Raven quickly turns to look at him before swinging his Nasod Arm in front of him. "Maximum Cannon!" He shrieks as fire immediately bursts out of his palm, turning into a large fireball. Elsword yelps in pain as he falls to the ground, Aisha's eyes widen at the sight before she points her staff at Raven with anger.

"No! Flame Wave! Chain Lightning!" She yells out as she casts a wave of fire that hits into the Taker's chest, she then quickly holds her staff forwards like a gun as she casts a lightning ball that immediately homes in on and repeatedly strikes Raven. He screams a few times from the pain before slashing through the lightning ball with his blade. Elsword gets up and grips his Great Sword tightly as he stares at all his teammates.

"Alright, now!" He commands his team as he darts forward to the ready Taker, the rest look at each other and nod before quickly following behind the Sword Knight, Rena lands safely to the ground before leaping forward at Raven.

"Crescent Kick!" She shouts confidently as she jumps forward and kicks three crescent-shaped waves in front of her, causing Raven to cough out a bit of blood, he grimaces before leaping back, trying to get some distance between him and the attacking Elgang. Aisha jumps high up into the air and swings her staff downwards.

"You're not going anywhere! Blizzard Shower!" She exclaims with pride as she emits an aura that freezes Raven in his place, and casts a spell of ice shards to rain down around him with mighty force. He screams as he attempts to move but fails, his entire legs are covered in solid ice, Elsword turns to Chung and shouts at him.

"Chung! Do it!"

"Understood! Lunatic Blow!" He shouts back to the Sword Knight as he rapidly smashes his Destroyer to the ground, causing chain explosions. Raven is forced backwards as he yelps in agony, he manages to stay on his feet through the constant punishment and raises his Nasod Arm once more. Elsword leaps in the way of Raven's aim and grins like an idiot.

"Ha! Don't forget about me just yet! _Double Slash!_" He cries out with everything he has as he strikes Raven with a stunning slash then finish the attack off with a final slash that forces Raven down to his knees. He grimaces and coughs weakly as the El Search Party regroup and begin to catch their breath, all of their eyes widen as the Taker somehow manages to force himself back onto his bleeding feet, he coughs a few more times before struggling to raise his blade out threateningly. Elsword pants heavily one last time before lifting his Great Sword and wandering over to the injured Raven. "Geez, looks like it'll take a few more hits to put you down for good, huh?"

Rena puts her green bow away and frowns secretly as she watches Raven struggle and cough…he glares at his Nasod Arm once more before clenching it with his human hand, she walks over to Elsword as he prepares for the final blow and places her hand on his shoulder.

"No, Elsword. Don't."

"W-what? But why?"

"Just look at him, look at him and you'll see why. He's being tortured, Elsword. None of this is his doing, the Nasod Arm that's attached to him must be doing all this." She says softly to the Knight before carefully walking closer to Raven and to smile kindly at him. "Hey, please snap out of it…we don't want to hurt you anymore. Please don't listen to that arm of yours."

Raven raises his head to look at Rena, he stares for a few seconds at the Elf before his eyes suddenly widen, he straightens himself and glares at the Elf in awe.

"It…it cannot be…Seris?" He mutters slowly in disbelief, Rena cocks her head to the side and raises her eyebrow.

"Hm? Seris? Who is that?"

Raven shakes his head and holds his bruised body as he grimaces from the pain for a few more seconds, he takes in a deep breath and lets out a heavy sigh before staring weakly at the team of fighters. Elsword calms down, along with the rest of the gang, and smiles friendly-like at Raven.

"So, what's your name?"

"Raven…my name is Raven…"

"Well, Raven. Could you tell us just how exactly you got into this situation?" Aisha questions Raven as she plays with her staff, Chung places his Destroyer on the ground and sits on it like a chair. Raven nods and starts to speak.

"I…I came from Velder…they became jealous of my skills when I was part of a group called the Crow Mercenary Knights…so they framed me for treason,"

"What? That's totally not fair!" Elsword cries out angrily at the thought of something like that happen, Raven chuckles calmly at the remark and continues.

"Indeed, I felt the same way. Anyway, my friends had broken me out of my prison before I could be executed…but we were caught before we could make our escape, everyone was killed except me. I just barely survived, thanks to some strange man who never really told me who he was. He gave me this arm…and made me make a promise…to destroy everything."

"You would do something like that…?" Chung asks slowly, Rena gives the Guardian an angry look as he speaks, Raven shakes his head and glares at the Nasod Arm.

"No, I would never hurt innocents…but this arm…it…it changed me…turned me into something else…something far more destructive."

"How can we trust you? What if that weird arm has nothing to do with the chaos you've caused?" Aisha questions, skeptical of the story that was being given. Raven stares sadly at her and lowers his head slowly.

"Unfortunately, I don't know how to prove something like that to you…I hope you can just believe me on this, that fighter that you just saw wasn't me…it…it was-"

Elsword shakes his head and places his hand on Raven's shoulder while giving a deep sigh.

"Don't worry, Raven. I believe you." He laughs to Raven as he gives his familiar grin, Rena nods and smiles too.

"Me too, you seem like a good person, deep down inside."

"Thank you…however…" He begins to mutter as he turns his head away sadly, he folds his arms and stares out into the sky. "Your Mage friend is correct, I _have _caused a lot of chaos…I've hurt and killed innocent people…do I really deserve to live after that…?"

Chung gets up from his sitting position and holds his Destroyer calmly in his right hand as he smiles shyly at Raven before talking to him.

"It definitely isn't easy knowing that you've done terrible things like that, but that's what the road of redemption is for, right?" He speaks softly to Raven while smiling kindly, Elsword looks at Raven and tilts his head.

"Yeah! You can just redeem yourself by being a good person again!" Elsword agrees with Chung, Raven shakes his head and stares at them sadly.

"But…is it really that simple?" He questions back to Elsword, the Knight places his thumb and index finger on his chin and begins to think.

"I think it can be that simple…whatever you broke, you rebuild…isn't that right?"

Aisha lets out a deep sigh and smacks Elsword across the head with her staff while huffing angrily.

"That isn't your problem, musclebrain!"

Elsword and Aisha glare irritatedly at each other for a few seconds before all of them see the humor and begin to laugh together, Raven stares at all of them laugh and quietly joins in. Elsword yawns and stretches his arms before placing both of his hands on his hips and nodding.

"Well, it's decided!" He exclaims loudly, Chung raises and eyebrow and looks at Elsword.

"What is?"

Elsword laughs happily before sticking out his right hand for Raven to take and gives a cheeky grin, everyone stares at the Knight as he speaks to the Taker.

"That you're part of the team now!"

Rena nods in agreement before smiling at both Aisha and Chung, she stares at their unsure faces and questions them.

"Would anyone like to object?" She asks softly, Chung and Aisha both still completely silent. Elsword laughs at the silence before looking back at Raven while holding out his hand even further.

"So, what do you say? Want to redeem yourself?"

Raven stares at the Knights hand for the longest time before smiling, he glares at his Nasod Arm with hate. He would never fall to that power ever again, never. He raises his hand…and makes the decision of a lifetime.

He shakes Elsword's hand.

"Heh, then welcome to the team!"

* * *

"You wish for me to return to my capsule?" The Queen asks the massive Nasod resting before her, the King nods slowly.

"Indeed, my dear. I've been working for quite some time now in resurrecting our precious race, and we're almost there. Just rest in that capsule for a few more years and I swear to you when you awake again, you shall be greeted by our people once more."

The Queen takes a short bow and nods before walking over to her capsule while Moby and Remy follow obediently behind her.

"Of course, my King." She speaks emotionlessly before gradually lying down in the capsule, the lid slowly closes as her eyes do. The colossal Nasod turns to his loyal servants as they bow on their knees and gives them their new orders.

"Ignis, Leviathan. I am counting on you to take care of the intruders coming our way, we've come too close to lose now. Get rid of whoever it is immediately."

The red and blue Nasods nod to their King in unison before quickly dashing away, the Nasod King glares at the capsule with the sleeping Queen inside.

"Yes…the rise of the Nasod race is almost here...and when it happens we shall bring all of the humans to their knees…" He laughs to himself as fire, lightning, rocks and ice all curl and spin around his giant body.

"Yes…we will crush them **all**."


	34. No 30: Kill Or Be Killed

**Hello once again, how are you all doing? It's time for chapter 30! Thanks for waiting and for your patience. I've been rushing to release this chapter for a while now but I've encountered several issues while doing so, hopefully I have fixed it for good now! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! C:**

**The first path/class for Draco is out now, if you wish for more info of the character and his classes (such as the backstory, specialty, personal quote) then you can visit my profile. More about his classes will be there :D**

**Special thanks to Cederz for following and favouriting, you're awesome! :D**

**Feedback is always welcome~**

* * *

"Come on, Ciel! Try to keep up!" Lu laughs happily as she rushes forward to a large demon in front of her, she leaps to its chest before stabbing her left demonic claw right through it. Ciel sighs at the sight around them, the smell of dead demons lying on the floor was appalling for the assassin. He holds his nose with his right hand as he slowly walks behind his master.

"Just tell me when you want me to step in, Lu. You don't need to tire yourself by fighting this creatures."

"Hehe! Tiring myself out? Not at all! This things aren't demons, they're just sad imposters of the real demons! This weaklings don't stand a chance against me, terror shall consume you all!" Lu giggles back to the horde of demons darting towards her, she stamps her tiny left foot onto the ground as blue energy begins circle around the small body of the Chiliarch. "Apollyon!" She shrieks loudly as she summons a giant demon to strike the demons before her, Ciel takes a sudden step backwards as he feels his heart skip a beat.

"W-woah…I had no clue that you could do that…" He mutters as a single drop of sweat rolls down his face, the blue, demonic creature rests on the ground in front of the Chiliarch. Lu and the beast with her both glare at the enemies before them, the blue monster turns its head backwards and stares at its master. Lu stares back at it for a few seconds before nodding at the monster.

"Do it! Crush them all!" She commands. The blue monster roars angrily at the demons before raising both of its hands and smashing the demons with its fists. The remaining demons growl madly as Lu's blue monster disappears, Lu shakes her demonic claws away as she starts to take deep breaths. Five demons see their chance to attack as they leap at the tired girl, Ciel lifts and points his Gunblades at the demons calmly as he steps in front of Lu.

"Hmph, I told you not to tire yourself out. I shall take care of your enemies for you. Triple Shot!" He speaks emotionlessly at his master as he quickly fires three powerful bullets at the attacking demons. Lu regains her cheeky smile as she summons her demonic claws once more. She stands beside Ciel and grins at him with excitement.

"You know I cannot do that, my loyal butler! I'm not just going to miss out on a good fight, let's do this together!"

Ciel stares at Lu for a few seconds before lowering his head while chuckling softly, he readies himself as Lu does before they both rush towards the last pack of demons.

"…Very well. As you wish." He whispers to his master as Lu leaps forward and raises both of her claws to the sky.

"I knew you would see it my way! Power of Oriax!" She laughs back to Ciel as blue energy frantically blazes around her small body. A red aura emits from the Chiliarch as her grin grows slightly, she walks up to the startled demons before swinging both of her arms forward and crushing their bodies, she lifts her left demonic claw and smacks it right into four of the demons, the dark creatures squeal in agony as parts of their black bodies fly off. Lu giggles with enjoyment of the sight as she jumps backwards and allows Ciel to quickly take her place. He grips both of his Gunblades tightly as he leaps upwards to the injured demons.

"Dark Crescent!" He yells as he spirals through the air and at the demons, the Gunblades form a blue shockwave around the spinning assassin as it cuts through the heads and chests of the demons beneath him, he quickly lands back onto the ground before sheathing his Gunblades and holding out both of his hands out in front of him. "Soul Extortion!" He cries afterwards as a giant, blue blaster materializes into his arms. He points the heavy gun at the demons before him as he fires a large blast, absorbing the energy from their souls, the demons hisses and scream as blue light fires out of them and into both Lu and Ciel. The Chiliarch smiles happily at the thrill of the battle as she leaps in front of Ciel and raises her left demonic claw.

"Ruinous Impact!" She laughs with joy as she summons a demonic hand to deliver a powerful strike at the demons, the claw blasts forward like a missile and crushes most of the dark creatures, Ciel stares determinedly at the remaining demons before quickly turning around to look at Lu, he stares at her for a while as forces the blue blaster in his hands to disappear. Lu smiles at the assassin with her most adorable smile before looking at the few demons left in front of them. She nods excitedly as she watches Ciel run by her side at the rest of the demons, Ciel and Lu both open their mouths and shout out with bravery.

"Eschaton!" Lu and Ciel both yell in unison as Ciel stands firmly and points both of his Gunblades forward while Lu hovers elegantly behind him as she holds out her right demonic claw outwards. A large, blue portal materializes behind both of them as they open a rift to the Underworld, evil spirits burst out of the portal and form into a colossal, blue missile and crash into the remaining demons with incredible force. Purple blood gushes out of the demons as their sorry existence comes to an end, Lu floats back to the ground and begins to pant heavily, Ciel smiles and shakes his head as he sheathes his Gunblades once more. He stares at the exhausted Chiliarch while giving a calm smile, he pats her softly on the head as she quickly regains her breath.

"Are you alright? Need anything, Lu?" The servant questions, Lu stares at him for a few seconds before taking in a deep gulp and putting on her usual expression.

"Well, since you asking so nicely, carry me for a while!" She giggles with her familiar, cheeky grin, Ciel sighs and gives a short smile before holding out his arms.

"Very well, I'll take us back to the camp. Lento and Allegro are probably waiting for us back there, we'd best hurry back."

"Hehe! Then let's-" She starts to laugh at Ciel before her eyes suddenly widen, Ciel's happy expression immediately disappears as they both sense something behind them, Ciel slowly and carefully pulls out his Gunblades while Lu's demonic claws form around her small hands. They both turn around to see a large, rock-like monster slowly wandering towards them, Lu's proud grin appears once more as she smiles at the huge demon. She turns to look at the worried face on her butler, she lowers her head and shakes it while smiling, she raises her head to look at Ciel once more as she gives a confident smile. "I remember this guy, his name is Teach the Tyrant. Kind of a softy, he won't be much trouble~" She giggles as she starts to crack her knuckles, Ciel's face turns back to a firm one as he straightens his jacket.

"Of course, he shall be quickly dealt with."

"That's the spirit, my wonderful servant! Now, show him what happens when someone dares to think about attacking me!"

The loyal butler nods immediately at his master before materializing his blue blaster back into his hands, he points it out at the giant, rocky demon. He holds it comfortably in both of his hands before directing it straight at Teach as it begins to dart towards to the Duo, Ciel takes in a deep breath before charging up magic into the blue blaster.

"Oblique of Marbas!" He cries as he stands firmly and allows the blue blaster to fire off a heavy barrage of blue bullets, Lu grins as she watches the entertaining power of Ciel's new weapon. She shakes off the hood on her head before darting towards Teach as its continuously barraged by Ciel's magical bullets, she behind the massive demon before raising both of her claw and jumping forward like a missile.

"Stomp~!" She giggles with happiness as she lands down onto the back of Teach, causing several cracks to appear on it. Teach ignores Ciel's constant barrage and turns around to look at Lu, the Chiliarch grins at the demon before sticking out her tongue and making a face, Teach lifts its head and roars madly before raising its right hand in an attempt to crush the girl, Lu jumps backwards and out of the way as Teach's hand collides with the ground. She holds out her left hand while flashes of immense, blue energy curls around her as she does so. A dark blue hole appears underneath Teach as Lu closes her eyes and concentrates, she quickly opens her eyes after muttering something under her breath before clenching her hand into a fist. "Evil Claw!" She shouts out as a giant claw materializes out of the dark portal under Teach, the large claw rockets outwards from the portal and places its grip around the demon, Lu's smile fades and sweat pours down her cheek as Teach begins to struggle and tries to break free from the claw's grip, she shakes her head and glares angrily at Ciel as he simply stares in awe. "Well?! Don't just stand there, crush this stupid pile of rock!" She commands as she falls to her knees while still holding out her small hand to keep the giant claw in place. Ciel nods immediately and catches his mid-air Gunblades as he runs towards the trapped Teach, he glares determinedly at the massive demon as he chucks his weapons into the air and summons his blue blaster.

"Understood! _I will not let you down, Lu!" _ He yells with all of his might as he harnesses all the magic power within him and forces it into the large gun in both of his hands, he raises and points it at Teach before shrieking. "_Fantasy Impromptu…Second Movement!" _He cries as he blasts an endless stream of blue bullets frantically around him, the bullet quickly burst and ricochet off Teach's rocky body as it screams in pain. Ciel shakes his head as he forces the blue blaster to disappear. "It's not going to be enough," He mutters weakly as he quickly stands beside the tired Lu before nodding at her as she understands and nods back.

"Oblivion!" The Demonic Duo yell to each other in synchronization as Lu raises both of her hands and summons a giant, demonic creature from the ground, Lu turns to look at Ciel as chains from the portal fly about uncontrollably.

"Ciel! Grab them! I can't control it!" She cries out as the demon that they had summoned swings its arms straight into Teach's body before crushing it completely, chunks of rock smash into the ground as Teach immediately falls apart from the strength of the demon, Ciel sheathes his Gunblades and reaches out with both of his hands and frantically clenches the blue chains on the monster, the assassin roars loudly as he uses all of his strength to pull on the chains and to keep the beast under control, Lu stares for a while before shaking her head as her demonic claws disappear. "I have to put it back, it won't listen to me!" She shouts to her servant as she holds out her arms and screams as she uses all of her magic to put the demon away. The blue monster shrieks and hisses as it fades away into the portal.

Ciel lets go off the chains as the monster disappears and pants weakly while staring at Lu and the remains of Teach.

"…At…at…least…we defeated that…thing…right?" He gasps as he struggles to speak properly, Lu glares at their surrounding before wiping off sweat off her forehead and coughing.

"Y-yeah…nice work, Ciel. You did very well, I'm impressed…you used quite a lot of magic during that…"

"So, would you mind telling what that thing was exactly? That thing you summoned out of nowhere…"

"Well, to be completely honest, I have no idea. I just summoned it by instinct, and whatever it was it took care of Teach with one hit, which is ridiculously amazing. If only I could control it properly…"

Ciel shakes his head slowly as he sheathes his Gunblades and walks over towards, he places his hands on his hips and sighs at Lu's remark.

"To tell the truth, I highly doubt that is possible. Something as powerful as that seems impossible to keep under control."

"Hmph! We'll see about that! One day I'll have absolute control over that thing and then scold you for ever doubting me!" She huffs angrily as she feels insulted by Ciel's reply, she steps over to her loyal servant before closing her eyes, folding her arms and turning her head away from him while putting a frown on her adorable face. Ciel stares at Lu as she does so and gives a short chuckle before they both start to walk back the way that they came.

"Oh, don't be like that. I apologize, Lu. How can I ever make it up to you?" He teases Lu as he spots her still frowning angrily, she glares at the assassin for a few seconds before turning her head away again.

"You promised to carry me back to the camp…remember…?" She mumbles quietly as she senses her face heat up slightly, her eyes widen as she feels his arms wrap around her. Ciel raises Lu's tiny body off her feet and begins to stride confidently back to the camp while holding his master in his arms, Lu eyes stay widened for a while before she relaxes them and smiles calmly as she tries to get some rest while her servant carried her…

"Wait…Lu. Do you hear that…?" Ciel mutters anxiously as he stops walking, Lu opens her eyes and frowns while feeling annoyed about being woken up. She shuffles around in Ciel's arms before hissing at him.

"Hear what?! I don't hear anythi-" She starts to ramble angrily to her servant before hearing a terrifying cry echo throughout the area…Lu's mouth drops and she senses a shiver up her small spine as she recognizes the faint roaring.

"N-no…it cannot be…Berthe?" She whispers with pure fear.

"_Hey…are you awake now? C'mon, wake up already!" A faint, distant voice speaks to Draco as he slowly forces his eyes to open. The boy shuffles around and grimaces in the soft bed he was resting in as he finally is able to see properly again, he carefully shakes his head as he sits up in the bed to see the red-haired Knight standing beside it. He frowns as he begins to recall the events from before, he grimaces as his battered body's pain seeps into him._

"_W-where…in Elrios am I?" He hisses as he scratches the back of his head in confusion and agony as he glares at Elesis._

"_Look around you, silly. You're in a tent." She retorts while giving a calm grin at Draco, he shakes his head once more and glares even harder at the Knight._

"_Don't play games with me right now, I figured that much out. Where are we?"_

"_Hamel," Elesis shrugs as she replies normally, Draco rolls his eyes and attempts to remember a place called 'Hamel'._

"_Ah, that's right. Hamel, the city with the strange objects called Guardian Stones…"_

"_It seems you know a lot more than the Free Knight has informed me," An extremely deep voice mutters back at Draco, his eyes widen as he frantically turns his head to see another Knight standing on the other side of his bed. A very tall man with spiky, brown hair and light-looking armour smiles kindly at Draco as their eyes meet each other, the man raises his hand and speaks. "Greetings, my name is Penensio. Sorry if I had scared you, I thought you would have noticed me here. I suppose that strange being that Elesis told me about must have hit you harder than I originally believed."_

_Draco's eyes widen even more as he remembers the fight he had just rushed into, he glares angrily at both of the Knights._

"_That…that man, what happened?! Did I kill him?! What the hell happened back there?!" He yells madly while trying to get up, only to grimace once more as he falls back onto the bed. He gets back into a sitting position before staring irritatedly at the white bandages wrapped around him._

"_Woah, woah! Calm down, Draco. You shouldn't move right now, you're still healing. That weird guy you tried to attack did something to you."_

"_What? What exactly did he do to me?"_

"_I…I don't know. But look at your clothes, they're different…and…your arm…" She starts to mutter worriedly as she points to Draco's right arm, he lowers his head and glares wordlessly at the black tattoo of weird symbols on it._

"_The hell…is this?"_

"_I have no clue. He just snapped his fingers and you fell straight onto the ground, he walked over to you like he had no care in the world before placing his right hand on your forehead…and then…just like that…he just disappeared…"_

"_I know, it sounds absolutely crazy. I had a hard time believing it myself when Elesis had first told me. I don't know who this person is but he seems incredibly powerful if he can just force someone unconscious..." Penensio speaks to the two while placing his hand on his chin and closing his eyes, Elesis nods at the Knight before turning her head and looking at Draco._

"_After that I had to carry you all the way here to treat you, that weird guy didn't wound you but it took you a long time to wake up. It's relieving to see that you're fine now. But…did you know that guy? You acted like you did when you suddenly attacked him."  
_

"…_No…I didn't. I just felt like he was trouble…call it a 'gut feeling'." Draco lies as he stares at his new attire, his black jacket now had purple symbols just like the tattoo on his arm and his hair's red lines had been turned to purple as well._ **[Fallen Iron Attire] **_Elesis turns back to Penensio after shrugging and puts on her serious face._

"_Penensio…I didn't know it was so bad here…how are the Knights holding up here?"_

"_I'm not going to lie to you, you've come to Hamel at its worst hour. The White Colossus has defeated all the teams we have sent to stop him and he's gradually breaking down all of our bases. We're losing ground fast, and there's no way to end him." Penensio replies sadly as he lowers his head and wanders slowly around the tent, Elesis shakes her head and grips the Claymore in her right hand._

"_Please, is there anything that we can do to help this fight against the Colossus?"_

"…_Well, some of our men haven't been able to fight at the front lines where the White Colossus' current position is because they've had to deal with the other demons invading the Resiam Outskirts. If you could possibly look into it and hopefully eliminate the threats in those areas…we can have more men holding our bases. I cannot lie to your face and say that doing this will guarantee Hamel's safety, but doing so will definitely make a difference."_

"_Of course, just leave it to me." She nods as she quickly gets used to the new gear she's wearing. _**[Sabre Knight Attire]**_ She salutes at Penensio and the Knight does the same back to her._

"_Hopefully, with the new armour we've supplied you, you'll fare well on your new mission. May the Greater Ones watch over you." He speaks back Elesis while saluting, Draco snorts at the entertaining words of Penensio while causally getting up from his bed and taking off his bandages. Elesis' eyes widen and her mouth drops as Draco walks over to her and stretches his arms._

"_Heh, don't think you're going without me. Staying in a El-damned bed for so long has been torture, a good fight is exactly what I need right now. Plus, I'm curious about these…'demons'."_

"_H-How can you get up? You're supposed to still be recovered!" She stutters at Draco as he summons Veryx into his right hand and glares at it. The scythe had become larger in size and had small, purple light spinning slowly around it._

"_Don't underestimate me, I can get up from anything. I…" He trails off as he watches Veryx disappear, he remembers the annoying laugh of that man…the one that had stopped him. It was an embarrassment to fall so quickly to that man, he couldn't allow something like that to happen once more. "…need to learn to never fall again…" He mutters the rest of his sentence, Elesis stares at him for a few seconds before shrugging and grinning happily._

"_Well, since you're so ready for this, let's go take down this demons together!" She laughs as both of them leave the tent, she secretly looks at Draco as they walk confidently beside each other to the awaiting demons. The Sabre Knight smiles to herself as she wonders why Draco had continued to stick with her for so long. Perhaps she thought that this was the start of a friendship with the quiet fighter._

_But she was dead wrong. _


	35. No 31: The King And Queen Await

**Hey everyone! It's great to see you all once more, thanks for waiting patiently. Here's the next chapter! C: I hope you enjoy.**

**Special thanks to hongren, firestorm83 and Otaku4life-san for following/favouriting~! You're awesome! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome!**

* * *

Elsword and Aisha both heave a heavy sigh as they drop into the soft seats around the fireplace, Chung rests his Destroyer on the ground, making a loud noise, before slowly sitting on a chair opposite them. Rena walks out of the bathroom with wet hair as she gives everyone sitting down a smile.

"Ah! Now _that _was refreshing! It has been so long since I've been able to take a shower like that, are you going to take one now?" She smiles and questions Aisha as she places her purple staff on the floor beside her.

"No, but I know for sure that someone needs it urgently…" She hisses while turning her head to Elsword, the Knight raises his arm and smells himself before putting a cheeky grin on his face.

"Heh! Whatever you're smelling, it isn't me. I smell great!" He replies proudly, Aisha glares at him before pretending that she's gagging. Chung shook his head while looking at Rena as she sat down with her team by the fire.

"They still cannot get along, I don't understand why. They're both very kind people from what I have seen but they always begin to argue when they talk to one another…" Chung mutters with confusion as Elsword and Aisha start to talk loudly to each other, the Elf stares at the two for a while before having a short giggle.

"I think they would go well together," She whispers to Chung, careful that neither the Knight nor the Mage heard her remark. Elsword eventually stops arguing with Aisha and turns his gaze to Rena.

"I still can't believe Adel immediately gave us a place to stay, what a nice guy!"

"Yeah, from what I have heard, he's lived many years and has seen crazy things during his life. People say that he can tell a good person from a bad person just by simply looking at them, if that's true then that must be the reason that he let us stay here."

"Woah…just how old is he?"

"I don't know. Honestly, I don't think anyone knows. Ponggos like him should have a much shorter lifespan than us, no one knows how he's lived for so long. Kind of mysterious, right?" She laughs to Elsword, the Knight quickly nods back and returns her smile. The door to their left begins to move and make quiet creaking noises as Raven opens it and steps into the room where everyone was, he stares silently at the team behind his black, shaggy hair as he carefully sits down on the last chair. Everyone's smiles and laughs vanish as he continues to look at all of them. His clothes were now silver and his blade had a different look. **[Sword Taker Attire] **

"Perhaps…that is also why he spared me and didn't insist on killing me." He mumbles as he stares at his Nasod Arm with the gloomy expression, Rena shakes her head and gives a calm smile to him.

"It's not just Adel who saw the good in you, it doesn't take someone that wise to see it. We see it too. Everyone will."

"You really think so?"

"I know so," She replies kindly, Raven's expression changes slightly as he nods his head and grips his new blade.

"I will not allow myself to be controlled anymore, I will become the noble fighter I once was. I shall redeem myself, no matter what it takes."

"And we'll be there for you every step of the way, buddy!" Elsword laughs with determination as he leans forward in his seat and slaps Raven on the back, Raven gives a short chuckle before raising his head and showing his, rare yet pleasant, smile.

"Oh my, how handsome." Rena remarks as she observes Raven's smile, he turns his head and senses his face become slightly red.

"This is much harder than I remember it being,"

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Everyone has to smile every now and then!" Elsword exclaims to Raven while having a supportive grin on his face, Aisha shakes her head and sighs once more.

"So, about that masked guy…" She starts to mutter to get everyone thinking again.

"I heard that he's contacted all of you guys as well," Raven states to the team, Chung nods his head and gives his serious look.

"It was quite a while ago when it happened, and when it did, he came out of nowhere."

"What happened? What exactly did he say?" Raven questions Chung with curiosity, the Guardian scratches the back of his head before lowering it.

"He told us to come to this village as fast as we could because he had something to tell us…and that someone might be out there that's trying to kill us."

"Trying to kill you? Did he give any kind of description of the person?"

"Yep, told us it was a man dressed in black. Kinda tall too. He also said that he'd be with a young girl." Elsword answers for Chung, Raven's eyes widen slightly as he turns and looks at him.

"Covered in black…tall…trying to kill you…" He repeats to himself while mumbling, Rena stares at the Taker for a few seconds before raising an eyebrow.

"Hm? Does that sound familiar?" She asks Raven, he glares at all of them and sighs.

"Kind of. That description is a bit vague but I've met someone like that, an assassin. Hired to kill me." Raven replies to Rena, the rest of the team stare at each other in worry, Aisha looks at the Elf anxiously.

"Does that mean…someone has hired an assassin to kill us? Who would do that?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions, there's plenty of men out there that are dressed in black and are tall."

"But there'd aren't that many assassins that fit the description perfectly," Aisha retorts angrily, Elsword shrugs and looks calmly at everyone else.

"So? Even if this guy is an assassin, what are we afraid of? I'm sure we can deal with someone like that, especially now that we know what kind of person to be careful about."

"I agree, we'll be fine. As long as we keep our wits about us, I'm sure we can stop this man." Chung nods at everyone after listening to Elsword, Aisha yawns and rolls her eyes.

"I guess you're right," She answers simply, the front door bursts open as frantic Ponggos barge inside the house and run up to the team in worry, everyone stands up and stares in confusion at the Ponggos. Elsword spots Agatha the Ponggo and raises his eyebrow.

"What the…? What's going on? What's wrong?" He asks Agatha as the Ponggo pushes the others out of the way and places his small paws on his hips.

"Adel will be able to tell you, pong." He says to the team as Adel, the Ponggo with the beard, wanders over to them and shakes his head.

"There is big trouble happening, pong!"

"Trouble? Where?" Chung questions the old Ponggo, Adel points quickly at the floor beneath them.

"Underground, pong. There was been many sounds and vibrations coming from the ground, pong. We fear that someone has finally found the Altera Core, pong!"

"The Altera Core…I think I've heard a few rumors about that place…people said it's impossible to find it. That the place is nothing more than a legend." Raven mutters to the Ponggo while folding his arms, Agatha shakes his head at the remark.

"Oh no, pong. The Altera core is definitely real, pong. New types of Nasods are begin developed there everyday, and now we've found a giant hole on the side of a hill that leads straight to it, pong. It only makes sense that someone has dared to enter that place and has angered the King, pong!"

"The King?! The Nasods have a King? Woah…" Elsword mumbles in wonder, Aisha lifts her staff off of the ground and nods at the two Ponggos in front.

"If a place like that truly exists then we need to destroy it, the Nasods are a huge threat."

"I agree, it would be wise to take that place down." Raven speaks in agreement of the Mage, the rest of the team stare at Raven and Aisha for a while before nodding.

"Well then, Adel and Agatha, please show us the way." Chung requests of the two Ponggos.

"_Kahahaha! To think there were so many codes in this El-forsaken place, how wonderful! I'll crush every single last one of you! You hear me?! Kaha!" Add laughs with happiness as he flies forward with the Nasod Dynamos, several different Nasods detect the presence of the Tracer and quickly advance towards him, Add cracks his fingers and watches with a grin on his face as the Nasod Armour spreads itself around his body._

"_Quake Buster!" He screams with delight as he raises his right foot and kicks a purple ball of energy down at the Nasods below, the ball fires straight down into the ground and surges forward, ripping apart the attackers. Add cackles as the shiver of excitement slithers through him, he leaps off the Dynamos and rushes towards the broken pieces that were left from the Nasods. He summons a blue screen and laughs as the Nasod Dynamos begin to scan the codes, and his smile immediately disappears afterwards as he recognizes the codes hovering before him._

"_This codes…they're nothing! I could have made this codes myself in my sleep! Just how far has this pathetic race fallen? I destroyed all of them without a single thought…this are nothing like the ones that I remember…" He begins to talk to himself as he wanders around in a circle and continues to glare at the broken, spare parts of the Nasods that he had crushed. His grin returns as the Nasod Dynamos hover back by his side, he stretches his left arm and walks slowly over to the next crowd of Nasods in the distance._

"_Keh…no matter. You're just weaklings…insignificant fools compared to the ones that are hiding here…they think they can hide from me…but the Dynamos have already picked up your energy. I know now for sure…the King and Queen are waiting here for me, just thinking about the codes I'll get from them…it gets me so…" Add starts to giggle as he reaches the dozens of Nasods, they rush towards him by instinct as he lifts his right hand and holds it in front of him. _

"…_so eager! Conqueror!" He finishes in a laugh as a swirling path of purple electricity zaps at the Nasods and drags them to Add before compressing into a ball and exploding. His laughs echo through the halls of the Altera Core as he watches hundreds of parts from the Nasods fling into the air and explode. He places his hand onto his face and stares at the sky._

"_This entire race will fall to my feet! I won't leave a single one of you alive, you're all just idiotic electronics packed with codes for me to enjoy! I'll rip out and experiment every last part of you, you might as well beg now! Kahaha! Energy Boom!" Add cackles with eagerness as the Nasod Dynamos frantically spin in front of him and releases an electrical bullet that collides into the rest of the Nasods. He flicks his wrist, commanding the Dynamos to his side, and the Dynamos obey. Add walks over slowly to the last and fallen Nasod with a shield, he reaches out with his right hand and, with the strength from the Nasod Armour, rips the head off. He laughs as he chucks it into the air before kicking it like a football. The head flies through the air before hitting a large Nasod in the distance, Add's eyes widen slightly as he notices two, massive figures wandering to him. One was red while the other was blue, but except from that the Nasods looked exactly the same. Add senses his mouth drop a bit at the sight of these powerful-looking Nasods. He clenches his right fist and walks straight for Ignis and Leviathan._

"_So, I'm guessing you want to go next? Kahaha! __**Then let's begin the experiment!**__"_


	36. No 32: Down With The King!

**Heyyyy, what's up? :D Zacaro here once more, feels great to be back! I've been slightly busy with schoolwork and all but I'm happy that I've had enough time to release the next chapter C: Thanks you all for reading and I hope you enjoy~!**

**And there's something I forgot to inform you all about, it's about the class changes. Now, I'll just cut straight to it: Every character will go through every class. First it'll be their 1****st**** class path, then their 2****nd**** and finally their final and 3****rd**** class. That way everyone wins! :D Some will just classes faster than others due to the plot ^^**

**Special thanks to ILunaticFoxI for following and favouriting, you're awesome! C:**

* * *

Add's grin spreads along his pale face as he slowly walks over the crushed and smashed bodies of the twin Nasods that had attacked him, the feeling of holding their cores in his right hand was out of this world. He laughs loudly and happily as he raises his hand and chucks the codes of Ignis and Leviathaninto the holographic PC of the Nasod Dynamos next to him. Strange codes frantically scroll down endlessly as Add brings his head closer to the screen and observes it.

"Keheh, now _these _codes were what I was looking for! Just imagining myself installing these codes into the Dynamos later…that'll be a crap load of fun! Kahaha!" "He cackles as he snaps his left hand's fingers and commands the Nasod Dynamos to close the hologram and return to its master's side. Add's laugh is short lived, however, when he lowers his head and shakes it slowly.

"But…still…these will only be slightly helpful. The codes that will make me a god is…" He begins to mutter under his breath as he pictures the Nasod Queen in his head. "Theirs! Kahahaha!" He finishes his sentence while placing his hands in his pockets and laughing. The laughing stops completely as strong vibrations in the floor startles the Psychic Tracer.

"_So…you defeated my two greatest champions? Impressive, I must have underestimated the abilities of the humans in this time." _An incredibly loud, bold and commanding voice echoes through the halls of the Altera Core, Add's eyes widen as his smile grows in size as he realizes who the voice belongs to.

"Keh…it's about time I found you, Nasod King!" Add yells with delight, his left eye glows strongly with purple light as he leaps off the broken bodies of Ignis and Leviathan and cracks his knuckles with anticipation. "I sure as hell hope you're ready to say goodbye to those codes of yours, kahaha!"

"_Hmph, your power is definitely intriguing however you seem to just be another brat that thinks that he stands a chance against our mighty race. If you truly wish to attempt to over__throw the King, I shall grant you the honorable opportunity. Come forward to try, challenger…_" The Nasod King's voice exclaims with pride as a large hallway forms into a wall beside Add. The Tracer cackles one last time before summoning the Nasod Armour around him and walking over to the hall leading to the awaiting King and Queen. The sound of multiple footsteps frantically coming towards him forces Add to quickly turn around and glare at the fighters who had just entered the core, his mouth almost drops as he remembers the group of idiots. A red-haired fighter steps forward and points his Great Sword threateningly at Add.

"Hey, I remember you! You're that guy that we met in the forest back in Ruben, right?" Elsword asks as he tilts his head, the Elf behind him raises her hands and puts them over her mouth as she looks around the massive, underground core that they were all currently in.

"Wow, just look at this place! It's just beautiful, if only the entire place wasn't just white…" Rena mumbles out loud while curiously observing their surroundings. Aisha shakes her head and sighs at Rena before looking back at Add.

"You killed all those Phorus back then, every single one of them! You're sick!" She cries out to the Psychic Tracer angrily, Add simply glares at them and shrugs.

"Bah, you mean those pathetic, feeble weaklings who dared to attack me? They got exactly what was coming to them, now go away! I've got something to do and running into you fools again isn't going to help anything!" Add hisses madly at the group of fighters before starting to turn around, Raven walks over to his team with Chung beside him.

"We've looked over at that side of the core, there was only a pile of broken Nasods in that direction. Someone pretty strong must have-" Chung begins to report back to Elsword before noticing Add standing opposite them. "…oh." The Guardian ends his sentence simply. Raven's eyes immediately widen as he notices the Tracer, he grips his silver blade firmly in his hand as he quickly and angrily walks to Add.

"You…you're the one that I fought…on that airship…" He whispers in disbelief, Add stares at Raven for a few seconds before shaking his head irritatedly.

"Graaah! There's no damn time for this shit! I'd love to crush every last one of you, but right now the El-damned King is waiting for me in there! Get lost!" Add blurts out in frustration, his eyes widen slightly as he realizes he had told them the location of his target.

"Oh? The King's through that small hallway? Thanks for the info!" Rena smiles happily as he readies her bow and nods to the rest of her team, Elsword gives a cheeky grin to Add and stretches his arms.

"Haha! Yeah, thanks!" He follows up from Rena to anger Add even further, the Psychic Tracer clenches the fists and curses quietly as he understands that the team of fighters were going to follow him in there whether he liked it or not.

"…Fine, you might just be of small use to me. Just don't get in my way!" He snaps loudly at them before angrily shoving his hands into his pockets and entering the hallway in a huff. Rena smiles calmly and looks at Aisha.

"However he is, he doesn't seem exactly like the monster we imagined him being." She whispers to Aisha as they all enter the empty hallway with Add, Aisha shakes her head and glares secretly at the Psychic Tracer as he walks in front of them.

"We've only _just _met him, just because he doesn't look like a monster doesn't mean he isn't one."

"I'm not sure if I agree with that, I'd like to believe that I can tell these kind of things by instinct." Rena whispers calmly back to the Mage as they slowly reach the bright light at the end of the hallway.

"Oh boy, get ready guys…" Elsword mutters with slight fright.

* * *

"_A-a-are you absolutely s-sure about that…? D-does a demon that powerful even e-exist?" Allegro questions Lu inside the large tent while sipping a hot cup of coffee as he sit comfortably in a chair. Lento, sitting beside him, shakes his head in disbelief at Lu's words as he stares quietly at the Duo._

"_I'm afraid I'm skeptical of what you're telling us as well. We would have found traces or tracks or some sort for a creature that strong. A lot of demons roar and growl, are you certain that it's from this…'Berthe'?"_

_Lu sits on the soft, comfy seat as Ciel, her incredibly loyal servant, stands silently by her chair…for whatever reason he refused to sit and stayed standing by Lu's chair. Lu stares at both Allegro and Lento and their clearly-obvious doubt, she looks at them for a few more seconds before shrugging._

"_I'm very sure, I'd know Berthe's roaring anywhere. It might be a little hard to believe that it exists, but trust me when I tell you that he does. He's extremely well-known in the demon realm and is feared by most of them…and for very good reasons too. Ciel believes me! Right, Ciel?!" She suddenly asks Ciel as he folds his arms and lets out a heavy sigh. He looks at everyone and slowly nods._

"_Lu knows what she's talking about. If she says that a powerful demon exists and is in this very region, I believe her words. She has no reason to lie." Ciel speaks quickly to support Lu, Lu gives a happy grin to her loyal butler before looking back at Lento and Allegro._

"_Hehe! Well then, we're going to have to something to be prepared to take that big guy down. Am I right?" She questions everyone cheekily. Allegro gently readjusts his large glasses and carefully nods at her, Lento sees his friend's agreement and reluctantly nods as well._

"_Indeed, we'll need to become stronger to kill such a beast if it's as strong as you say." Lento reports to them, Lu gives another smile and claps her small hands together._

"_Good! Now that we're all on the same page, here's what we're going to do! Lento, I want you to continue the training sessions with Ciel starting from tomorrow. And double the length of each one. We need him to become even stronger than now. Allegro! You and I will head over to your potion place…or whatever…and work more on your research about the demons. Since I know a lot about them, my help will make your work go by a bit faster. Once we're sure that we're ready to head out and take Berthe on, we'll head straight to where I heard his roars. Anyone want to add anything?" Lu immediately commands everyone, Ciel, Lento and Allegro all stare at Lu while considering her words in their heads. Ciel unfolds his arms and pats Lu on her tiny head while giving a short chuckle._

"_As you say." He speaks firmly._

"_A-alright, I'll m-make sure…that I w-won't let you all d-d-own!" Allegro stutters as he quickly pulls a notebook out of his backpack and suddenly starts to write down notes in it, Lento keeps quiet slightly longer than the two before lowering his head._

"_If Allegro trusts that this will work, then I do too." He states without emotion as he unsheathes his sword and slowly steps out of the tent. "I'll take first watch outside." He quietly adds as he leaves the tent, Ciel watches with a smile as Lu gives a tired yawn._

"_It's getting quite late now, shall we retire to our own tent?" Ciel asks Lu as she tries to keep her eyes open, Lu nods slowly as she falls asleep while Ciel lifts her up into his arms. He walks over to the exit of the tent and takes a step outside._

"_Goodnight." Ciel says almost-silently to Allegro, Allegro takes a small and polite bow to the servant._

"_G-goodnight. It…it seems like w-we've got a pretty busy d-day tomorrow…right?"_

"_Yes, and Lu is counting on us. Don't disappoint." Ciel snaps as he disappears to the outside of the tent and takes Lu to her bed._

* * *

"W-woah…" Elsword succeeds to mumble as they enter a giant room with the Nasod King awaiting. The colossal, massive Nasod glares at all of them before raising his giant hands and chuckling.

"_Welcome. I see you are here to challenge me. I hope you've said your prayers beforehand." _The Nasod King speaks with incredible volume, Add's grin grows as he stares at the interesting Nasod.

"Kahaha! And I hope you've said your goodbyes to those codes of yours!" Add cackles with delight as he hops onto his Dynamos and flies straight towards the giant Nasod, he lifts his right hand and points it outwards. "Pulse Cannon!" He laughs as he fires four electrical bullets that home in on and collide with the King's armour. Smoke hovers slowly off the King's body as he lets out another chuckle.

"_This is where you witness the ultimate power of the Nasods." _ The King states as he raises both of his hands and claps them together, lightning bolts fire down onto Add and the El Search Party. Elsword and his friends begin to dodge the bolts as Add simply watches them bounce off the Nasod Armour. He shakes his head as he cracks his knuckles and prepares to unleash another barrage of attacks at the King.

"You fools! Do you see the four cores around him?" He yells out angrily as he kicks several electrical pulses while in the air, Raven raises his blade and slashes clean through the bolt heading towards him.

"Yes, what about them?" Raven yells back as he and Elsword go back-to-back and cut through the lightning bolts together. Add grimaces and shrieks in pain as the Nasod King smashes him into a wall with his large hand, he quickly gets up and leaps back onto his mid-air Dynamos while frantically checking the energy scans in the Nasod Dynamos' system. He looks back at the team as they now begin to leap over waves of fire on the ground.

"They're giving this El-damned Nasod the power of four elements, crush every core and his original core should appear!"

"What do we do with the original core?" Elsword yells back as he watches Chung smack his Destroyer into the ground, causing parts of the floor to fly into the air and block the incoming missiles. Add stares angrily at the Knight and squints his eyes as he fires another energy wave at the Nasod King.

"What the hell do you think?! Crush that as well!"

"Right! Aisha, take down the earth one! Rena, take down the fire one! Raven, take down the thunder core! Chung, cover us from the missiles for as long as you can! I'll destroy the water core!" Elsword yells and commands the other team members, everyone stares at the Knight with determination and nod in unison. They quickly dart away to the coloured cores and begin to attack them, Elsword looks up and stares at Add as the Tracer continues to release merciless and endless barrages of electrical attacks at the indestructible body of the Nasod King. Elsword gives a short grin and shrugs as he dashes to the blue core. "Heh, I guess he'll distract the King for a while. Time to smash this thing!" He laughs as he raises his Great Sword and hits the core multiple times.

"This'll be quick, Magic Missile!" Aisha cries as she lifts her purple staff and unleashes a magic ball of concentrated energy that crashes straight into the yellow core. "The earth core is down!" The Mage exclaims to the team. Rena turns her head and watches Aisha destroy the earth core as she heads to the fire core herself. She leaps upwards into the air as more waves of blazing flames scatter and crawl across the ground, she points out her legs strongly as she finally lands.

"Feel the unbeatable power of Nature! Dive Kick Bombing!" She shouts out as green orbs circle around her and she executes a bombardment of kicks enforced with nature energy, the fire core immediately bursts into a large explosion from the sheer force and speed of the Elf's kicks. Rena takes a deep breath and brushes her lush, green hair out of her eyes. "Ehehe~! This core didn't stand a chance against Nature!" Rena giggles happily to the others, Elsword hears the Elf's voice from afar and grins as he swings his sword backwards and readies himself.

"Looks like I need to speed up! Hyaah!" The Knight shouts with motivation as he continues to smash and crush the water core, the King Nasod begins to hiss and cry in agony as Add collects gravitational energy into his right hand.

"Neutron Bomb! Explosion, _kahaha!_" Add shrieks and laughs with delight as he generates a magnetic force near the massive chest of the King, the core of the electrical current generates more and more energy before finally detonating into a large, purple explosion. The Nasod King grimaces and yells out from the pain, it raises both of its hands.

"_W-why you…come here, you little insect!" _The King growls with irritation as it attempts to crush Add with its hands like a bug, Add watches with a smile on his face as the King's hands close in on him.

"Kuahaha! You think you can crush _me?_ Statis Field!" He cackles as he creates a compressed, purple aura around himself before detonating it, blasting several fingers of the Nasod King's hands. Chung grips the handle of the Destroyer and leaps into the sky as the King fires more homing missiles to explode the fighters attacking the core, he opens his mouth and releases a heavy, powerful shockwave around him.

"Pandemonium…Chaos!" He cries as the missiles explode from the power of the Fury Guardian's aura, Raven grips his blade and endlessly slashes the thunder core, yellow sparks fly around the Sword Taker every time his weapon collided with the core, he releases a sigh and firmly holds his blade for one last hit.

"Shockwave Cutter!" He exclaims as he slashes the air, creating a shockwave out of his silver blade that cuts clean through the yellow core. He lands quickly back to the ground before yelling to the others. "The thunder core is no longer operational!"

"Just a second! Mortal Blow!" Elsword laughs as he strongly stabs the ground and causes red rocks to fly straight into the water core, leaving nothing of it. "Heh! The last core is toast!" He yells to everyone in pride, the centre of the battlefield starts to vibrate as a slightly larger core comes out from the ground. Add stops his endless attacks and turns around to grin at the final core.

"Kwahaha! That's the Powertrain, crush the pathetic thing to bring this foolish Nasod to the ground! Kaha!" Add laughs with excitement and anticipation as he flies towards the final core, Elsword and the others look at each other and nod before raising their weapons and unleashing their most powerful attacks at once.

"Conqueror!" Add cackles loudly as he watches the Nasod Dynamos release twelve homing bullets that crash into the Powertrain, Rena leaps forward and puts a confident smile on her face.

"Violent Attack~!" She giggles as she kicks upwards at the Powertrain core with somersault kicks, and then drills into the centre of it diagonally. Aisha jumps into the sky behind the attacking Elf and swings her staff around.

"Let's end this now! Blizzard Shower!" She cries as she summons a huge wave of ice shards that rains onto the core, causing miniature explosions on it, Chung runs forward after them and howls with determination.

"Lunatic Fury!" He screams as he storms forward and drives himself straight at the Pwertrain, then rams his cannon into the ground and fire multiple times, causing a series of blue explosions to burst out of the ground. Raven holds his trusty blade with his Nasod Claw before dashing forward.

"Hypersonic Stab!" He speaks quietly as he unleashes a fury of piercing slashes through the middle of the core, Elsword grins at them all before pointing his Great Sword at the sky.

"Armageddon Blade! Graaaah!" The Sword Knight cries as his sword materializes into an incredibly larger one as he slashes downwards through the core, causing it all to detonate. The Nasod King no longer fires missiles and instead stays absolutely still.

"_N-no…" _ The King manages to whisper quietly before slowly falling to the ground, parts of him crumble and tumble down him as small explosions spread around his massive body. Add lands to the ground and cackles with large volume as he watches the King finally fall, he snaps his fingers and the Nasod Dynamos fly over to the Nasod before he can completely explode and forcefully pulls a red core out of him. The Dynamos elegantly carry the core down to the impatient Add as he taps his foot on the floor. He frantically glares at the massive core as the Dynamos drop it in front of him.

"Kaha! Finally, after all this time! This is it! Kuahaha!" He laughs as he places his hand onto his face and swings his head back to release another laugh, he almost jumps as he hears a loud cracking noise. He takes his hand off his face and stares at Elsword's Great Sword as it strikes into the King's core in front of him. The Nasod Dynamos behind Add immediately drop to the ground as Add's eyes widen at the sight he just saw.

"D-Did you just…n-no…you didn't… _did you just destroy it?!" _Add shrieks in disbelief at Elsword's bored and tired face.

"Hm? Yeah, it was another bad core. Right?"

"Why you little!-" Add begins to scream with pure anger before being interrupted by an earthquake, Raven quickly looks at everyone firmly.

"Looks like the only reason the Altera Core is still standing was because the Nasod King was powering it. We'd better move, _now_." Raven snaps and interrupts Add, everyone but the Tracer nod as though they understood and put their weapons away, Elsword quickly walks over to a large capsule as parts of the ceiling crash down into the ground. He places his right hand on the glass of the capsule before turning around and looking at his team.

"Err…guys? This thing…it's…opening I think." Elsword says slowly to everyone, Raven immediately holds his blade beside him before speaking.

"What's in it?" He asks quickly, Elsword stares for a few more second inside the capsule before looking back at the team and tilting his head.

"I think it's a girl!"

"What?!" Everyone except Raven and Add suddenly ask at the same time as the capsule fully opens, a young girl lying inside slowly opens her eyes and carefully begins to stand up. She rubs her eyelids for a second or two before staring emotionlessly at the group of fighters before her, she watches more parts of the Altera Core crumble to the ground. She shakes her head and glares at the team.

"If you wish to escape this Core alive, follow me. Otherwise, you will all die in here." She states without emotion as she starts to hover in the air and flies away, Elsword and his team have no time to talk about what they just saw and quickly run to keep up with the strange girl. Add remains still as he observes the Nasod Queen escort the foolish fighters out of the falling Core, he shakes his head as his usual grin returns.

"The King might be gone, but _you'll _be the perfect substitute! Kuahaha!" He cackles quietly before leaping onto his Dynamos and following the team outside. The strange girl, Elsword's team and Add all reach a tunnel that's slowly falling apart, they all rush through it and reach the end. Greeting once again by green, beautiful trees and nature. Raven begins to pant slowly with the others as they're finally allowed to take a rest. Add realizes that the team hasn't noticed him and hides behind one of the trees to eavesdrop. Elsword wipes off sweat off of his forehead before smiling weakly at the strange girl. He walks over to her and grins.

"Thanks for that, you saved us! We didn't know there was a tunnel that heading straight out!" Elsword speaks friendly, Raven stops panting and places his hand on the Knight's shoulder and pulls him back slightly.

"Elsword, look at her forehead. She has a core, she's a Nasod like the others."

Aisha eyes widen as they notices the large blue core on the young girl's forehead, the girl stares at everyone with her bright yellow eyes before slowly nodding.

"Indeed. I'm the Queen of Nasods. Other entities refer to me as 'Eve'. I've been in that capsule for many years, I was waiting for the day when our race would be revived. However, while in my hypersleep, my subconscious began to scan the files in the Altera Core's database. That's when I found out that my King wasn't simply trying to revive our race to its former glory, he was trying to make an army of mindless Nasods to attack you humans. That is when I woke up to see you and the death of my King." Eve confirms for the gang, Rena gives a gentle smile to everyone and shrugs.

"So? It doesn't matter that she's a Nasod. She saved us, _and _she's innocent!" Rena calmly protests to the Taker, Raven shakes his head and stares angrily at the Nasod.

"It _does _matter, she's a Nasod and our plan was to destroy them since they're a threat!" Raven shouts madly, Rena's eyes widen and her mouth drops as she slowly backs away from him.

"Raven…this isn't you. I…I thought…you were better than that…" The Elf whispers sadly to Raven, he lowers his head and clenches his chest with his Nasod Arm. He turns away and sighs.

"I don't want to upset you by saying his, Raven. But I think your hate for the Nasods is blinding your judgement." Chung speaks quietly to the Taker, Raven stares at him for a few seconds and nods.

"I think you are right, please forgive me." He mutters, Chung and Rena's smile returns and they both nod. Aisha slowly and carefully wanders over to Eve and frowns.

"So…you've been asleep for a while? Do you not have any friends in this time?" The Mage questions, Eve stares emotionlessly as everyone walks over to her.

"No, I don't not believe I have any 'friends'. I cannot find anything named like that in my database. Rena places her hand over her mouth and looks at Eve sympathetically.

"That's terrible!" She says with the emotion of sadness clear in her voice, Elsword shrugs before walking over to Even and sticking out his hand as he gives his familiar, cheeky grin.

"Well, I'll be your friend!" The Knight chuckles to Eve, the Queen stares at his hand for a few second before reluctantly holding it. Elsword grins and laughs as Chung, Rena and Aisha all say 'Welcome to the team!' in unison, Add glares angrily at the sight that he was seeing. The Queen of Nasods doesn't need a friend, the Knight was being an annoying fool. Add puts on a normal smile before wandering over to the team, Chung is the first to notice him and waves.

"Oh! You made it out!" The Guardian smiles to the Tracer, Add shrugs and looks at everyone.

"Keh, it wasn't a problem." He laughs back to Chung as his eyes secretly rest on Eve, Raven glares angrily at Add as he comes closer.

"Why are you still here?" Raven snaps firmly at Add, the Tracer gives a short chuckle as his grin spreads slightly, he walks over to Elsword.

"Let's make this simple, I'd like to join your…group." Add struggles to say, it almost made him gag when he thought about working with the idiots…but now that Eve was in the team…he could make good use of this.

"What? C'mon, we don't know who you are…we don't even know what you name is!" Aisha protests angrily, Add shoves his hands into his pockets and shrugs.

"Add."

"We still have no idea who you are,"

"Does that really matter right now? You need all the help you can get, and I'm sure you've witnessed my abilities. You might not trust me, but you _need _me." Add grins as the team lower their heads as they realize that what Add was saying was absolutely true. Raven frowns madly as he points at Add.

"Very well, but the moment we feel like you'll betray us…"

"Keheh, I understand perfectly."

The stare at each other with concerned frowns on their faces before they all shrug and prepare to walk their way back to the Ponggos, Eve slowly follows behind the team as they start to take off. She carefully turns her head around as she sees Add slowly trail behind them, his eyes glued to the Queen and her core. Eve knew now that the Tracer was unlike the others in the team, he didn't want to be her friend. He wanted her codes.

And that he'd do anything to get them.


	37. No 33: Running Away From Fate

**Hey, what's up? I hope you're ready for the next chapter! :D It took me a while to release the latest chapter due to my laptop having technical difficulties and that I had to go and put it into repair for a while. Thank you for waiting C:**

**We're now on 9000+ views! Thank you all so much! :D I couldn't have done it without your support C:**

* * *

**The next few days simply went by quietly, everyone was hard at work in the camp. **They all knew the stakes and what would happen if they couldn't match Berthe's strength, Ciel knew this all too well. He would always place a calm and confident expression on his face when he was around Lento or Allegro or even his own master, but deep down that wasn't what he felt like at all. The paranoid feeling when he thought about not being strong enough for Lu was slowly biting away at him. He only prayed that Lento didn't notice this change whenever he was training with him, he didn't wish for the others to feel the same way he was. Ciel heaves a heavy sigh and cracks his knuckles tiredly after sheathing his Gunblades behind his back, he strides over to the large, green tent in the middle of the camp. These training sessions with Lento was taking a toll on the assassin, he truly needed a break. He raises his hands and pulls the entrance to the tent open, only to see his master sitting on a wooden chair with a book about alchemy in her small hands. Ciel lets out another short sigh as he wanders over to Lu and pulls a wooden chair towards him to sit on.

"I did not know that you were interested in alchemy. You've been in the tent for a while, is that what you have been reading this whole time?" Ciel questions Lu as he finally gets to sit down, the master waves her right hand to her servant dismissively as she doesn't take her eyes of the book.

"Shhh! Give me a second, I want to finish this page."

Ciel shakes his head and slowly places his left hand on the book and pushes it down, Lu looks at her servant and rolls her eyes.

"Don't just ignore me, Lu. That hurts." The assassin whimpers sarcastically to his master, causing her to let out a little giggle. She puts the brown, thick book onto the table beside her and smiles at Ciel.

"Hehe, I guess I got a little too absorbed into that book. It's just that I've never heard of this…'alchemy' before. No one ever spoke of that kind of power back in my realm. It seems like a strong energy source with quite a bit of potential, too bad only humans can use it…" Ciel raises his right eyebrow as her words surprise him slightly.

"Oh? It can only be used by humans? I didn't know that. Perhaps that's why demons don't really talk about it…" The assassin mutters, he raises his head and looks at Lu dead in the eyes for a split-second before they both quickly turn their heads away. Ciel scratches the back of his head and sighs.

"I can tell from that look in your eyes, Ciel. You have something important you want to say." Lu whispers softly as she slowly begins to look at her servant again, he gives a short chuckle and smiles at Lu.

"You caught me, but I see the same thing in your eyes too."

Lu huffs and folds her arms at Ciel while giving him her irritated yet adorable expression, she glares at Ciel angrily.

"You first," She commands, Ciel stares at Lu for a few seconds before simply shrugging his shoulders and nodding.

"Very well. I just have one question for you…are you okay with what we are doing?"

"…What do you mean by that?"

"Are you…okay with killing all these demons? As I said before, I will follow your command no matter what it might be. If you…if you want us to stop fighting the demons, I shall not question your authority." Lu gives an unemotional stare to the assassin for a few seconds before putting on her cheeky grin and winking.

"Is that what's been bothering you all this time? You could have asked sooner, you know! Well, anyway. I'm absolutely fine with our path, in fact…I'm pretty glad!"

"Why is that? You do not care about killing your own kind?"

"Would _you_ mind killing another human if they were in your way…?"

Ciel's eyes widen slightly as he realizes the answer is exactly what Lu expects, the assassin smiles weakly and nods his head at his master.

"I wouldn't hesitate. Not if they were stopping me from reaching my goal."

"Exactly! They might be my race, but I'll crush as many as I have to if I want to regain what was taken from me!" She giggles happily, Ciel leans back comfortably in his chair and tilts his head to the side while looking at Lu.

"So? What's been on your mind that you want to talk about?"

"…It's not that important…"

"Lu, please. If you have something you want to let out, share with me."

Lu begins to blush at the incredibly sweet and supportive words of her servant, she stares at Ciel for a few more seconds before refusing by shaking her head.

"I can't. Seriously, forget about it."

"But-"

"That's an order!" Lu suddenly shouts at Ciel, the assassin stays quiet and looks at his master. He knew that Lu wasn't about to say what was on her mind, whatever it was…it seemed to pain her quite a bit. Ciel nods slowly and doesn't say anything while telling himself to remember to try to ask her again later. The tent quickly opens up again as Lento rushes in with an irritated expression on his face. He wanders over to the table in the centre of the tent and chucks a white envelope on it before folding his arms and staring at it. Lu and Ciel both turn to look at the livid Knight.

"Something wrong, Lento?" Ciel asks calmly as Lento backs away from the table and stares at the floor, he looks at the assassin and shakes his head anxiously.

"It's Hamel. They've refused our request for backup as well,"

"Backup? You've been asking other places to send people to help us?" Lu questions with surprise in her voice while raising her eyebrow, Lento glares at her for a while before nodding.

"Indeed. Just yesterday Allegro told me that the traces he found from Berthe, thanks to you, implying that this creature has powers that even the Red Knights have yet to witness. Whatever that being is…it's almost like a god in our world. I couldn't just stand by and wait for that beast to come down here and destroy this camp, so I sent as many requests to as many places as I could. Alas…pretty much every place has their own problems and turned down my plea. Hamel was our last hope…however, even they cannot spare a single Knight ever since the great White Colossus turned against them. This isn't good at all,"

"Did you try _everywhere_?" Ciel questions Lento, the Knight lowers has head and considers the question for a while. He reaches for and pulls out a small map from his right pocket and begins to quickly read it. He puts the paper back where it came from and lets out a small sigh.

"Everywhere…except for Ruben and…Altera?" Lento mutters quietly in deep thought, Ciel stands up from his seat and stretches both of his long arms tiredly and yawns before staring at the thinking Knight. He folds his arms and nods at Lento.

"Try sending a request for help to those places as well then. Having some skilled fighters back us up would be quite helpful."

"I'm not so sure, those are very small places with very little fighters. It's highly unlikely that they will be able to send anyone to assist us. Are you sure?"

Ciel simply shrugs both of his shoulders carelessly at Lento before nodding.

"You might as well. There's no harm in trying, right?"

Lento stares at the assassin and slowly nods back, he walks over to the envelope before shrugging the same way as Ciel did.

"I suppose not. I'll go send one now." The Knight sighs before picking up the envelope and quickly striding out of the tent. Ciel chuckles quietly before turning back to look at Lu. A mad, extremely-annoyed expression greets the assassin as he turns to his master. He lifts his right hand and scratches the back of his head.

"What's wrong? You're giving me that look for a reason."

"We. Don't. Need. Help." Lu hisses as Ciel as she gets up from her chair and pokes his stomach with her tiny index finger. Ciel immediately shakes his head in disagreement to Lu, much to the latter's annoyance.

"We do. Just because the contract between us has strengthen doesn't mean we can both recklessly run into a fight against such a powerful demon."

"We can handle it! I'm the most powerful demon out there, don't question my strength and authority!" Lu huffs at Ciel, the assassin chuckles once again before leaning over to his master and patting her soft, small head with his strong hand. Lu starts to strangely blush as she lifts up her head and her eyes directly meet her servant's.

"Lu, trust me. I would never question you. I just want to make sure you reach your goal while keeping you safe. No matter what happens, I'll always be your loyal servant."

Lu senses her face feel slightly warmer, she uses her small, delicate hands to take Ciel's hand off her head and backs away angrily.

"Whatever," She hisses as she turns her face away, Ciel readies himself to let out another chuckle to his master before a sound of an explosion erupts from outside the tent, Ciel and Lu both hear the violent sounds of weapons being used and multplie demons' howls. The assassin quickly and instinctively unsheathes his Gunblades and rushes outside of the tent while Lu immediately follows behind him while summoning her demonic claws. Lu's eyes widen as she notices the several demon corpses surrounding the camp, Lento stands calmly and sheathes his sword to his back before turning around and staring at the Duo.

"No need to panic. Just another small wave of demons."

"How did you take them all down that quickly?" Ciel quickly asks back, Lento shrugs and points his finger at a young girl with a sharp-looking spear with her **[Little Hsien Attire]** standing on top of some of the bodies of demons. She slowly wanders over to the Lento and the Duo, her kind and gentle smile immediately calms everyone down. She takes a small and polite bow to the three before speaking.

"I hope you are all alright?"

"Yes, thanks to you. That was some amazing moves you used to kill those demons, what's your name?" Lento replies kindly, the martial arts fighter gives another soft smile.

"Ah, my name is Ara. I'm from the Haan family, it's nice to meet you! I've been stuck here fighting these demons all day, it's good to finally see a camp."

"Haan family…? I've never heard anything like that before…what do you think, Ciel?" Lu slowly whispers to her servant, she becomes slightly surprised when Ciel doesn't reply. She raises her head and looks at the empty yet absolutely horrified look on his face. He quickly turns away and straightens his jacket…and as he does that…he swears that he could have heard a distant chuckle…the one chuckle that had been haunting him ever since...that day. Ciel had denied it to himself as many times as possible that what he saw wasn't real…and the man was simply trying to torture him. But know he knew for sure…this girl was one of people he was shown…

…**in the vision of the future that the masked man gave him.**


	38. No 34: The Deal Of A Lifetime

**The village of Altera had been as quiet as ever before now.** All the Ponggos were now peacefully asleep in their miniature buildings, as were the team of fighters currently resting there. Elsword's snoring continues to echo throughout the house with no sign of stopping as he slowly tosses and turns while saliva gradually slips off his open mouth. Aisha and Rena were both as quiet as they could be in their neat beds on the opposite side of Elsword's room, the Mage's heavy breathing could just barely have been heard but the sound was drowned out by Elsword's snoring. Chung's bed, on the right side of the large bedroom, was empty. The Guardian had left before the team had decided to sleep to train during the night. Raven, on the left side of the room, grimaced angrily and whispered and muttered with fright during his sleep as the nightmares simply wouldn't leave him be. The Queen was lying normally on her bed in the other room with her eyes wide open, she wasn't about to sleep just yet. Not with that strange boy lurking silently in her room.

"You are disturbing me with your presence, please leave before I am forcing to take action." Eve states as she sits up in her bed and Moby and Remy awake to hover by her side. She holds Remy close to her chest and pats it softly to make it go back to sleep as a dark figure cackles and slowly steps out of the shadows in the Queen's room, he steps out of the darkness to the point where Eve could only see his face.

"Keh, my sincere apologizes, your highness. Did I wake you up?" Add laughs happily as he sits on his Nasod Dynamos and cocks his head slightly to give a smug and calm look to Eve, the Queen glares at the Tracer and makes no change to her facial expression.

"The way you have snuck into my designated bedroom and spied on me while I rest is quite disturbing. Explain yourself."

"Kuhu…I didn't mean to disturb you…I'm just too intrigued by your existence. That's all. Well, that and of course the codes you have locked away in there." Add speaks with a cheerful tone as he points effortlessly at Eve's core on her forehead. The Queen fails to flinch in the slightest even though the boy's words surprise her.

"You seem to know far more about my race and our codes than the others. Also, I detect that your contraption you are currently sitting on is made entirely out of Nasod technology. You have so far presented yourself as a major threat, who are you?"

"Me? Keheh…I'm just someone who despises your petty race. All you Nasods are useful for your interesting codes. Except from that you're all just a thing of the past!" Add giggles while tormenting Eve with his words, Eve shakes her head and stares determinedly at Add as she stands up and folds her arms.

"You are only right about one thing, you human. Our race seems to be 'a thing of the past' to many right now, however I shall soon change that. The Nasods are a proud, strong and wonderful race, we were as mighty as humans back when our race strived. We were an intelligent and sophisticated race, and as their Queen I shall-"

"…bring them back? Is _that _what you were going to say? Kahaha! You pathetic, misguided fool! You really think that your race can ever be brought back? You honestly believe you have the power to do that?!"

"…No, I'm not nearly as powerful as I once was. Back when I had my true power no living being would dare to question my authority, however I now realize that whatever power I had before I slept in my capsule is no longer with me. Still…that in no way means that I cannot regain that power back. I am the Queen of all Nasods…it is my duty to restore our race to its former glory, and that is exactly what I shall do. This group of fighters are worthy of guiding me through my journey, they will help me to gradually become stronger. I must be strong…I am the only true Nasod left."

Add shakes his head and grins at the Nasod's hilarious speech, his left eye glows as he stands up from the Dynamos and steps out further from the shadow in Eve's room. He walks ever so slightly closer to the Queen before shoving his hands into his pockets as his smile grows wider, he blows a small part of his white hair out of his eyes before speaking.

"Keh, the resurrection of the Nasods…you surely do seem to care a lot about that. That only makes me more curious…is it in your programming to have the undeniable desire to look at for other Nasods? Or perhaps there's some sort of simulation processing in your mainframe that tricks you into believing that you have emotions or that you can naturally want to do things like this? Keheh…it cannot be real feelings, you know. Nasods don't have that. None of that really matters though…unfortunately for you this team also trusts me, and as long as they do I can continue to analyze your behavior and eventually…" Add trails off quietly as his gaze finally rests on the blue core on Eve's forehead, his left eye glows even brighter. "…get my hands on the interesting codes that you have stored away in that core…"

Eve summons Moby and Remy to her sides as she quickly strides closer to Add until they're only inches apart from each other, the Queen immediately snaps her fingers and allows electrical sparks to dance around her body, transforming her. Her clothing quickly turns into a black battle suit and her hairstyle grows longer. **[Code Exotic Attire]**

"That shall not be happening." She hisses suddenly, surprising and startling Add. He watches as her pathetic Nasod followers by her side slowly hover closer and closer to him. He had no idea that the Queen had more than one code installed into her…and that she could quickly switch between them. He needed to complete his research on his Nasod Armour before he could face such a powerful Nasod, Add raises his eyebrow as he notices the similarity between both of their black-coloured attire before retreating back into the darkness and leaving the room. He silently walks through the bedroom of the sleeping fighters before reaching the door to the exit, a cold tap on his shoulder sends a shiver up his spine. He quickly turns around to see the stupid Knight called 'Elsword' with his eyes closed, he clumsily struggles to stay on his feet as he wobbles from side to side.

"I'm…the greatest…warrior…ever…" Elsword mutters as he drools while standing up, Add takes a slow step back and frowns angrily.

"Damn it! The idiot must be sleepwalking…but why now?! I need to get out of this place to start my research again!" Add whispers hatefully to himself, Elsword walks slightly closer to the Tracer like a zombie before throwing a flimsy punch.

"Take…this…foul…demons." He whispers and mutters in his sleep as Add dodges the weak punch, the Tracer shakes his head and senses himself being filled up with rage.

"Go back to sleep, you utter moron! Grahh!" He hisses quietly as he summons the Nasod Armour around his fist and punches the Knight in the face, throwing Elsword onto the ground. Add glares at the Knight as he lies on the floor expecting him to wake up and get angry…however he calms down when he sees the Knight simply continue to snore while lying in the middle of the bedroom. Add sighs and walks back over to the door and quietly opens it and steps slowly outside.

"Stupid heavy sleepers." He snaps as he gently closes the door behind him.

* * *

"This soup is absolutely delightful! Thank you for so much, Lento." Ara smiles calmly as she sits on a log of wood next to the campfire, Lento and Allegro both sit opposite her while enjoying the warmth of the fire that they had made. Lu kneels in closer to the warmth and holds out her hands, some nights in this camp were incredibly cold.

"No, there's no need to thank us. It was the least we could do for your service." Lento replies without emotion, Allegro quickly nods in agreement to his friend's statement. Lu grabs a marshmallow that had been resting just slightly above the fire, she turns to look at Ara as she gobbles down her first one.

"I didn't see much, but you must have some sort of special ability within you to have killed those creatures in a little amount of time." Lu raises her eyebrow with curiosity as she reaches out to take another marshmallow, Ara lowers her head slightly and blushes.

"W-well…I'm part of the Haan family, we specialize in fast-paced martial arts. All of my fighting skills were taught to me by my older brother, he was one of the best warriors in my homeland."

"Yeah but, there must have been a reason of some sort to make your family so skilled in martial arts? The Guardians from Hamel are pretty strong, from what I heard, because they protect the Guardian Stone."

"…We kind of protect something as well, our family's Moonstone and…"

"_Me."_ A much softer yet more confident-sounding voice speaks to everyone as Ara's mouth closes, Lento and Allegro both widen their eyes as they both become startled by the new voice.

"W-w-who…said that?" Allegro stutters weakly, Ara opens her mouth again to explain to everyone but gets interrupted by Lu.

"Hehe, I could recognize that voice from anywhere! It's good to see you again, Eun." Lu giggles happily as she looks at Ara's hairpin, Lento along with Allegro also direct their vision to the hairpin. Eun lets out a tired sigh before speaking.

"_Ah, Master Sourcream…it definitely has been a while since we've seen each other. I didn't really expect you to look like a little girl." _Eun says seriously, Lu simply puts on a happy smile and shrugs.

"And I didn't expect you to be someone's pretty hairpin," She replies smugly, Eun sighs another sigh and grumbles.

"_Touché." _

"Eun…I've heard of that name before. That's the name given to the strange legends of a demonic fox, is it currently sealed away in that?" Lento speaks with slight surprise, Ara nods quickly and rubs the back of her head slowly.

"Yes. My family had sealed Eun in this hairpin for many, many years. It was our duty to make sure that she never hurt anyone with her immense power."

"_Although, we've made a contract. I am now to assist her in her journey, I might not be free but I can still have a bit of fun when Ara decides to unleash me."_

"Yeah…speaking of contracts…" Lu mutters quietly as she turns away from the campfire and stares at Ciel standing in the distance…and in the cold. Lu sighs and shakes her head in confusion of her servant's sudden and strange acts.

"This might not be the best time to ask…but have I offended your friend by any chance? He seems to be trying to keep his distance from me, I hope I haven't done anything wrong…" Ara whimpers worriedly, Lu simply shakes her head to the girl and stands up.

"No, he's just like that sometimes. He's an idiot but he means well. I'll go have a word with him." Lu replies quickly as she strides towards Ciel, she rubs her arms and breathes heavily as she gets further and further away from the fire just to be greeted by Ciel with his arms closed and staring off into the distant hills. Lu punches his right arm and frowns, Ciel turns his head slowly and looks at her.

"…Something bothering you?" Ciel questions quietly to his master as he unfolds his arms, Lu glares at him angrily.

"Seriously…what's gotten into you? Ever since that martial artist girl has come over you've been acting weirdly. Stop it."

Ciel ignores Lu's command and instead calmly searches his pockets and pulls out a nice-looking, white envelope and hands it to Lu.

"We've got a reply from Altera. They've apparently got a team of fighters passing by who have agreed to assist us."

"…We still don't need help…" Lu huffs irritatedly, Ciel stares at her for a few seconds and shakes his head.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Lu. We will be the ones to defeat Berthe, to show the demons your power, but it wouldn't hurt to have a team behind us just in case."

"Well, fine. Whatever. Just make they don't get in my way. Now…are you going to tell me what you're acting so weird about?"

Ciel simply shakes his head slowly and walks over with Lu to the fire.

"It's nothing."

* * *

Add curses and throws punches into the air with anger as the giant gears turn and click around him, he begins to punch his black Dynamos in frustration.

"How the hell did that Nasod do that? Graaaah!" He hisses madly as he starts to kick the Nasod Dynamos instead. A dark, shadowy figure appears behind the Tracer almost instantly. Add turns around quickly to see a cloaked, masked man slowly walk over to him.

"**I see someone is having a bit of a tantrum…that's really quite embarrassing actually."** The man speaks with a deep voice and random chuckles, Add's left eye begins to glow as he immediately recognizes the voice.

"…It's about time I found you. You promised me your help, remember?"

**Indeed I did, and I haven't gone back on my word about it. I shall give you the power that you desire…the power to manipulate time and space."**

"Then do it!" Add requests with annoyance, the masked figure shakes his head and his index finger to calm the Tracer down.

**"Slow down there for a second…this isn't the kind of thing that I would hand out to just anyone…I want something in return."**

"How do I even know you can give me the power I want? You could just be messing with me right now, and I _hate _it someone does that." Add hisses to the cloaked man as he takes a few threatening steps closer, the cloaked man shows absolutely no indication of fear however. He holds out his right hand in front of him and quickly snaps his fingers.

**"Do you truly think I would waste my time with a weakling like you if I didn't mean to make a proper deal?" **The cloaked man questions Add irritatedly as a rip in the fabric of time and space tears open behind him, he gives a short chuckle at the shocked expression of Add before snapping his fingers again and closing the portal. Add cackles with delight at what he had just witnessed, he glares at the cloaked man and grins.

"Fine, I believe you now, whoever the hell you are. So, what do you want me to do for it?"

**"That's very simple actually. You see, I currently have an extremely boring job that I must carry through with no end in sight. It's not a job I asked for but it's the one I have to do now. For many, many years I've been living in absolute boredom…until I sensed your presence. Watching you so far has been very entertaining, it's the most fun I've had in a while. This deal is one you simply cannot deny because what I want isn't hard at all…I want you to continue to entertain me. Keep crushing the enemies that you come across, that's all."**

"You…want to be entertained by me…? By fighting? What the hell do I look like to you, a circus monkey?!"

**"That's a nice name for it."**

"Shut up!"

**"Kuhuhuhu…well, I've given my proposition for this deal…as long as you entertain me with your power for a while longer, just until I've had enough, you'll the power you want. At the end, I'll have something to do other than do my boring job and you get exactly what you desire. It's a win-win, wouldn't you agree?" **

"Bah! Fine! I'll do this stupid deal!" Add snaps as he glares at his Nasod Dynamos behind him, the cloaked man gives another chuckle before materializing a yellow core into his right hand and chucking it at Add, the Tracer catches it and stares at the man.

"What the hell are you giving me?"

**"A headstart, just to get you going. That's the Nasod King's core, have fun."**

Add stares at the core in his hands in disbelief but recognizes its look and the Nasod Dynamos quickly confirms it with a scan, Add opens his mouth to try to say something to this incredibly powerful and strange being but gets cut off by the last words of the cloaked man as he opens up a blue portal and slowly steps through it.

**"Oh, and Add. I'll be watching everything you do from this moment on. Don't disappoint."** He commands the Tracer before stepping through the portal and returning to the blue abyss…the only home he has ever known.

His head suddenly feels hot and he senses himself becoming dizzy…almost to the point where he almost faints, he holds out his right hand while holding his head with the other as a blue, glowing chair materializes next to him, he immediately drops comfortably into the chair and holds his aching head with both of his hands as he closes his eyes behind the cold mask.

"**I…I can't quite put my hand on that person. I can't remember who he is...it's frustrating...such lingering memories bother me, especially on a day like today...I woke up from a pleasant dream but I feel a sense of frustration because I just can't quite remember what the dream was about...strangely…even though we've never met before until now…I feel as though we've encountered before. We couldn't have possibly have crossed paths until but…I have such an odd feeling of déjà vu…who…**

…**who is he?" **Glave asks to himself in confusion.


	39. A Quick Notice!

**Hello all! I'm back once again, and I just wish to inform you that unfortunately the next chapter will be delayed for at least a few more days. I really want to release the next chapter, however currently my chapter was on my laptop which has died and is now in the repair shop and that I'm trying to survive my school's exam week. I'll try my very best to get the next chapter here as soon as possible, thank you for your patience! C:**

**Kind Regards, Zacaro.**


	40. No 35: Ghosts Of The Past

**Yo, how is it doing for all of you? I'm back :D I'm incredibly sorry about the lateness of this, I've gotten things straight now. Please don't hate me Haha, well thanks for your patience and support, here's the next chapter :) I'd just like to announce that this story has now reached 1000+ views! That's absolutely incredible, thank you all so much! :D**

**Special thanks to Ryutoo for both following and favouriting, it's great to have you on board! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome C:**

* * *

"Thank you all for excepting Feita's request for help, pong. It really sounded like they were in trouble, pong. Also, that region is known to be full of demons, pong. Please do be careful, pong!" Adel speaks thankfully and yet worriedly to the team of fighters.

They round each other up and prepare themselves for the journey ahead, Raven steps outside the house they were staying in to see Rena, Aisha and Eve talking with Adel. The Ponggo must have told the team about the dangers a thousand times by now, Raven didn't think he needed to worry. The team was powerful than ever before, at least that's what he thought as he wanders over to the team with his new, smart and white clothing with a brand new blade and an overall different style from before **[Blade Master Attire] ** Aisha is the first to turn her head around and notice him, the rest following quickly after.

"That's a strange, new outfit." Aisha comments with somewhat interest. Rena eyes widen and a smile places itself on her face as she gets a nice look at the new Raven, she grins sweetly at him.

"Just when I thought that you couldn't get more handsome, that's a very stylish attire you have now~"

"I do believe that your friend has also grown significantly in height." Eve states as she stares boredly at Raven, he snorts back with disinterest as a reply before glaring at her new clothes.

"You've changed a lot too, what's with you?" Raven questions, not showing any signs of happiness or enjoyment from speaking to her. Eve doesn't notice the man's unfortunate coldness towards her and instead just answers his question.

"I have explained to Rena and Aisha already, I do not change in appearance naturally as you humans do. My looks only change when I change codes, which I may do at any moment that I desire. Currently I am in the Exotic code, specializing in clearing the battlefield as quickly as possible. In this form I have access to more destructive weapons."

"Whatever," Raven retorts irritatedly, Rena raises her eyebrow and begins to glare at him. She didn't understand why Raven was so incredibly mean to their new teammate, she was going to have to get to the bottom of it whenever she can, Aisha lifts her staff and scratches the back of her head in boredom.

"Where's musclebrain?" Aisha asks simply, Raven immediately recognizes who she's talking about. He sighs and rubs his chin with his Nasod Arm before replying.

"Ah, him. Elsword has had a long training session with me, it'll take a while for him to catch his breath and return to us. Give him a minute, he should be out soon."

"I sure hope that idiot doesn't take his time, the rest of us are ready to go."

"Hm? You've been training Elsword?" Rena asks with slight shock, Raven gives a short yawn and shrugs to the Elf as he turns his head and stares at their surroundings.

"Yeah, I suppose so. It's not really training however, he just rushes straight at me and tries to land a hit."

"Has he been able to?" Aisha questions with interest, Raven puts on a small smile and shakes his head.

"Not yet. I've told him myself as well that it's simply because he just attacks with sheer brute force, he doesn't care for speed or strategy. That's why he can never touch me. Yet every training session it's exactly the same, he just runs straight for me and tries to land a blow. I've only been able to teach him one move."

"What move would that be?" Aisha and Rena both ask in a surprisingly-synchronized fashion, Raven has a short chuckle before responding.

"You'll just have to wait and see, he might use it in our next battle." Raven asnwers cryptically with a small smile, Chung pats his hand softly on Raven's back causing him to almost immediately turn around and allow his eyes to widen. Chung gives a quick salute as everyone turns to look at him, he tilts his head and smiles.

"Hey guys, I'm back from my training." Chung chuckles happily as Aisha's eyes meet his, she glares angrily and quickly walks over to him to poke her finger strongly into his chest.

"Where have you been all night?! We've all gotten some sleep and rest for the fight ahead and you've gone out and recklessly trained! Now look at you, you've got black circles right under your eyes!" Aisha scolds the Guardian with extreme authority that Chung most definitely wasn't ready for. He takes a sudden step back and rubs his long hair **[Iron Paladin Attire] **while sulking slightly.

"But…but look at me…I'm a lot stronger now and-"

"You'll never train when you're supposed to be resting again, do you understand me?"

"…Yes, ma'am…" Chung mutters as he cannot help but to sulk over more, Eve stares quietly as the fighters go on and on endlessly with their chatter. She could not completely comprehend the situation in terms of logic, talking is supposed to be a type of communication with one another to exchange valuable information…yet they all talk so…causally and with each other. Were humans and their instincts flawed? Or, perhaps, they do not talk to simply tell each other important things? Perhaps their words are filled with emotion and it conveys their current feelings? The Queen didn't reach a conclusion, of course. She just simply shakes her head slowly and taps Rena's left arm several times.

"Rena, we are still waiting for Elsword. Shall he be here soon?"

The door to their temporary house bursts open as Elsword kicks it from the inside with pride, he waltzes on out with his brand new clothing **[Lord Knight Attire] **and laughs with his mouth wide open as the team all stare at him with confusion and shock, all except for Eve. He raises his new Great Sword and rests it on his right shoulder as he slaps Chung on the back, Chung yelps with slight pain and slowly rubs it. Aisha sighs with irritation and folds her arms as she notices that Elsword is waiting for someone to ask him first, she turns her head away and doesn't speak for a few seconds. Elsword keeps his smug smile on Aisha to irritate her further, she facepalms and glares at him.

"Fine! You win! What's with the dumb outfit?!"

"Heh, I thought you would never ask! This is actually a proper Knight's clothing in Velder, my sis gave it to me a while back and said when I think I'm worthy I can wear it."

"Oh, do you believe you're worthy now?" Rena asks the Knight with curiosity, Elsword stares determinedly and seriously at Rena for a few seconds, causing her to think that he was about to say something noble. Instead he grins like an idiot and sticks his right thumb up.

"Nope! But I'm finally big enough to wear it, so why not?"

"Once an idiot, always an idiot." Aisha retorts angrily, Raven snaps his fingers to get everyone's attention as they all began to start another whole conversation. He begins to walk and stares at the team.

"We promised to be in Feita as soon as possible, let's go."

Elsword and the rest of the team quickly nod and follow behind him like children, Elsword turns his head slightly and looks curiously at Eve before opening his mouth.

"You look a lot different,"

"My appearance changes drastically when I switch codes, which I now have."

Elsword gives a short yawn and stretches his arms boredly.

"I think it looks nice," He replies simply to the Queen, she glares at him for a few seconds, unsure with how to respond. In the end she ends her eye contact and summons a blue, holographic screen to check on all of her systems.

"That's not important, focus on your task." She commands suddenly, Elsword shrugs his shoulders with boredom and nods obediently. Rena turns her head around as she walks and tilts her head.

"Wait…where's Add?"

"It's good if he doesn't come along," Raven grumbles without emotion, Rena raises her eyebrow once more before looking at Eve.

"Did you see him anywhere?"

"Last that I saw him he was angrily storming out of the house, I believe he went someplace else to carry out something important."

"Again, doesn't matter." Raven replies as he scratches his head, although he was hoping that the Tracer would leave them be and not follow them…deep down he knew that he hadn't seen the last of that kid. He didn't want to admit it but...Add was going to follow them endlessly to achieve something. All Raven needed to do know was to figure out what it is that causes someone like him to join the team.

* * *

"Try to keep up, Bursting Inferno!" Draco yells angrily and with irritation as he thrusts his right hand in front of him and charges at the crowd of demons like an arrow of fire, scorching any enemies in his path. Elesis quickly wipes a small bit of sweat of off her tired forehead and stares daggers into his eyes.

"Don't get too cocky now, I'll have you know that I'm still the superior fighter here! Kraaah!" She shouts with determination back to her partner as she slams her Claymore into the ground, causing the ground to erupt like a mini earthquake as the demons are sent flying into the air. Draco raises an eyebrow and grins secretly, he now realized what exactly was going on between them. While they both pretended to not notice and not participate, they both felt the faint sense of rivalry in terms of who had the more power…and Draco wasn't about to give up the competition to a mere mortal. He leaps into the air and reaches the five demons that had been launching by the Knight's strike, he cracks his knuckles without a care in the world.

"Heheh…haha! Let's get serious then! Blinking Crash!" He cackles happily and with excitement as he dematerializes and completely disappears in a flash, the demons screech and shriek with agony as they all randomly burst flames, only for Draco to reappear suddenly only inches away from Elesis as she watches in awe. He leans in his head close, causing Elesis to blush slightly.

"That…that was impressive, you just disappeared as the rest died." Elesis admits weakly, Draco gives a proud and smug grin to the surprised Knight.

"I didn't disappear, I just moved a lot faster and blasted all the pathetic creatures in an instant. I suppose your eyes just couldn't keep up with my speed. Heh…what's wrong? Feel outmatched?" Draco questions her teasingly with pride, Elesis puts on a serious face as he finishes his sentence. A demons growls and pounces towards the side of both of them, she lifts her sword and burns the attacking demon to crust with a blast from her Claymore without turning her head and ending her stare with Draco.

"I'm a _lot _more strong than you think I am, forgetting that might be a fatal mistake." She warns him with a dark hiss.

He takes a small step back, stares for a few more moments and shoves his hand into his pockets and glances at his strange tattoo. He scratches the back of his head with boredom and whistles an unfamiliar tune as he walks away slowly from the piles of corpses that they had created.

"Well, I guess you can still handle…just try not to fall behind, will you?"

* * *

Lento steps causally into the green tent to see Lu sleeping peacefully on Ciel's lap as he calmly reads a hand-to-hand combat booklet while leaning slightly on the wooden chair. Lento lowers his head and raises his hand to loudly clear his throat, Ciel takes his eyes off the book and stares quietly at him and closes the book slowly. Lu immediately jumps out of her resting place and growls with a bright red face in anger.

"What's the big idea? I'm trying to get some well-deserved sleep! Leave us at once!" She commands with incredible authority, Lento simply shrugs his shoulders and begins to turn to leave the tent again.

"Just wanted to let you know that the backup team has finally arrived, they're unpacked their things now."

"Shall we have a quick check on them, Lu?" Ciel questions his master calmly in a yawn, Lu glares angrily as Lento leaves the tent before turning back to Ciel and huffing. She folds her arms and sighs.

"It's still early in the morning,"

"It's actually almost afternoon." Ciel corrects her.

"I'm still tired."

"Please Lu, it will only take a few minutes to introduce ourselves then go back to our normal routine."

"…Very well, they better be interesting…" She mutters as she walks in front of the assassin and leaves the tent in a hurry, Ciel has a small chuckle and smile before following slowly behind her. He brushes against the opening of the tent and opens it, and becomes introduced by the bright and energetic sun. A team yawns and stretches with boredom as Allegro and Lento both introduce themselves. Smiles and laughs fill the atmosphere as Lu dashes up to them and grins.

"Welcome to the Feita camp, thanks for responding to our call for help. We're planning on taking down a really powerful demon, it'll be tough so I hope you're ready!" Lu calls out commandingly to the newly arrived team as they begin to chat with her and ask her questions, a green-haired Elf dashes up to Lu and gives her a tight hug.

"You're just way too cute~!" She laughs as her arms go around the little girl, Ciel's eyes immediately widen with shock and he quickly darts over to the Elf and places his left Gunblade against her soft throat.

"Step back," He snaps terrifyingly to her, the Elf's mouth drops and she immediately allows her smile to disappear. A purple-haired Mage and a red-haired Knight stare, surprised of what just happened. A heavily-armored fighter with long hair holds out his hand worriedly. The Elf slowly takes her hand off Lu and she takes a large step backwards.

"N-no…no need to be so serious, I was just trying to be friendly…" Rena mutters quietly to Ciel with utter shock, the assassin glares angrily into her eyes and opens his mouth to warn her to never touch his master again…but fails to. His body becomes frozen, his heart pulse increases, a shiver of shock jumps up his spine as he recognizes the familiar-looking girl…could it be the one who protected his target…could it be 'Seris'?

A cold, sharp blade curls itself around Ciel's neck as a figure quickly dashes behind him, the voice…it sounded far too familiar as well.

"Well, well, well. Look at who we have here, the assassin who tried to end me…I hope you've said your prayers." Raven hisses madly into Ciel's ear, the assassin senses his body freeze completely as his Gunblades slide out of his hands and roll across the grassy ground.

**His past has once again caught up with him.**


	41. No 36: When Enemies Become Allies

**The blade rests firmly on his soft neck as he senses his breathing becoming heavy, exhausted pants as his mind continues to insist that what he was wordlessly staring at wasn't real, it couldn't be. **However, the vision of the woman he confronted in the forest that day stays where she is. Her mouth still wide from the shock of the earlier events, she holds out her right hand and tries to reach out to Raven who slowly presses his blade into Ciel's neck further and further.

"R-Raven…! What do you think you're doing? Stop this!" Rena whispers with utter shock as Raven glares with empty, cold eyes at his team as he continues to hold Ciel as though he were a hostage to him. He takes a quick step backwards and forcefully pulls Ciel with him, he lowers his head and hisses.

"He's the enemy, he dies here."

"What?! Why is he suddenly an enemy? We literally just got here, Raven!" Aisha shouts with confusion back to the blade master, Elsword walks slightly closer to Raven and allows all of his happy emotions drain from his face.

"Dude, you're…you're seriously not acting right…just…just calm down, okay?"

"Stay back, Elsword. I know what I'm doing. This man's the reason Seris died, and the reason why I'm cursed with this damned arm! If he hadn't had stopped us for so long we could have gotten away before those soldiers caught up with us! I'll kill him right here and now!" He screams terrifyingly at his speechless teammates as he holds up his blade closer, ready to take the assassin's life…but Ciel was ironically dead-silent. He stares quietly at the ground, as though in a daze as the people around them argue angrily and with shock at the current situation. Nothing could properly process through his head, the only thought that rushed through him was how? They were stuck in that forest with so many soldiers. Even though he may have spared them, he knew deep down that there was no way that they would get out of there alive. He must be hallucinated…or seeing the ghosts of his past.

"…Get of him." Lu demands quietly, almost in a whisper. The sound of angry and rage seeps threateningly into everyone's ear, the atmosphere immediately changes to something far more dark. Her words suddenly struck fear into the hearts of everyone who was listening, even Raven slightly faltered. She glares at her servant as he attempts to breath slowly as the blade on his neck cuts deeper and deeper into his skin, his dazed eyes meet Lu's fierce ones. She takes a small step closer to Raven and Ciel and allows dark, blue energy curl around her as she summons her demonic claws, startling the other fighters.

"Ciel. I haven't a single clue what exactly happening in your past and honestly, I no longer care. From the moment we made that contact together you've become someone new, you've been reborn as my servant. The servant of the true Overlord. And a servant of mine shall never be in such a pathetic and weak position! So stand mighty! Forget your past sins! You are my power and strength which will lift me back to the throne! You are Ciel!"

Ciel stares wordlessly at the incredibly changed Lu and slowly nods his head, no matter what came his way he knew that she would always be there to bring him back, he raises his left arm and strongly elbows into Raven's stomach, sending him backwards to clench it in pain. Ciel glares at his fallen Gunblade and kicks it quickly into his other arm as he aims it and fires a magical bullet straight into Raven's head, sending him to his knees to grimace in agonizing pain. He quickly turns his head to allow his eyes to meet hers once more, only this time his determined stare with now back and better than ever. He kicks his other Gunblade into his free hand and rests it on his shoulder.

"There's one more thing I must eliminate from my past, this will be the last time. I promise." The assassin speaks quietly and softly to Lu, she notices Raven's teammates shuffle around and move uneasily…almost as if they were about to interrupt. She gives her cheeky grin back to her servant as she stands back-to-back with him and advances to the team while Ciel slowly walks over to Raven.

"I'll hold these weaklings back for as long as you need me to, now destroy whatever is left of your past life!" She yells with happiness and authority as she runs over to Elsword and smashes her claws into the ground, causing Elsword to jump backwards in retreat and unsheathe his sword. Eve summons Moby and Remy to her side before looking at her startled and unsure teammates.

"That demonic girl seems to be purposely distracting us so her companion can attack Raven, we should act now if we want to save him from a terrible fate." She reports in hurry to the team, Chung raises his Destroyer and uses it to block Lu's next attack, he turns around to stare at Eve before gripping his cannon.

"You don't need to tell me twice! Burst Wolf!" He cries with high volume as he gathers his guardian energy and strikes Lu with all of his might, sending a blue shockwave to crash into her straight afterwards. Lu falls backwards slightly but retains her unforgettable grin as she dashes back towards the Guardian.

"Not bad, but not even close to being enough to take me down! Ruinous Impact!" She laughs with utter delight as she summons a much larger demonic claw to punch Chung clean off of his feet, Elsword and the rest of the team sense their anger build within them as they watch the Guardian fall painfully onto the ground. They all angrily lung to Lu at once, much to her amusement, she raises both of her hands and smiles once again.

"And take some of this! Apollyon!" She shouts out as she begins to hover in the air, a giant demonic creature materializes below her and smashes the ground madly and with incredible force, the team cry in pain as they all fly backwards onto the ground and drop their weapons. Lu takes a deep sigh with boredom, she truly was hoping for a good fight. She folds her arms and whistles as she waits for the weakened fighters to get back up from her attack, she turns her head and observes Ciel's fight.

"Bah, you're nothing but trash! Sonic Blade!" Raven exclaims as he jumps forwards to the ready assassin and slashes his blade with one quick blow, appearing once again behind Ciel. The assassin stands there confused for a second before sensing an agonizing pain in his chest as several cuts appear on his clothing, he turns around to meet the blade master and raises both of his Gunblades.

"And _you _are nothing but something from the past that should have stayed there, Demonic Breath." He mutters with irritation as he sheathes the Gunblade in his right hand to open up a large, blue portal behind him, dark flames leap out of the rift and strike Raven, causing major pain to him. Raven immediately shakes the flames off and angrily tackles Ciel onto the ground, the assassin rolls clumsily across the floor and reaches Lu's feet, he pants heavily as the pain in his stomach doesn't fade. Lu glares madly and disappointedly at her servant as he struggles to get back up.

"Oh, come on! Must I always be there when you fail terribly? I thought I told you to become stronger!" She hisses with annoyance as she kicks Ciel while he attempts to stand on his feet, Raven straightens his clothings before advancing slowly towards them, the rest of the El Search Party following behind him. They all wanted to beat up the Duo now, Lu gives a short, bored sigh before lifting her left claw.

"Hehe! Come and kill us if you can!" She giggles teasingly, Raven raises his silver blade and runs towards the annoying child.

"With pleasure," He hisses as he prepares himself to cut clean through the demonic kid, a dark figure casts a shadow over the blade master before landing violently in front of him, smashing her spear into the ground and forcing the team away from the Duo. She takes a second to straighten and fix her black hair and catch her breath before gently putting her spear away. Raven glares angrily with irritation at the strange girl and doesn't sheathe his blade.

"I don't know who you are, but you're in my way. Let me finish them off."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that. I may have not spent enough time with these two to fully vouch for them, however I'm sure that their hearts are pure…just like all of you." Ara smiles kindly and gently to the El Search Party, Elsword scratches the back of his head slowly with slight embarrassment.

"Heh, maybe you're right. We didn't really mean to attack you, it's just…when we saw Raven attack them we thought…" He starts to mumble quietly and in confusion, Rena shakes her head and places her soft hand on Raven's shoulder as he fails to calm himself down.

"Raven...from what you said it's clear that you hate this person because he's from your past…but remember what you said? You want to redeem yourself and put that past behind you. _This _is your chance to do so."

"…But…" Raven slowly hesitates as Rena's calm and green eyes eventually cause him to relax himself, he directs his vision to Ciel standing behind Ara and glares with suspicion. "...do you still wish to kill mindlessly like the other assassins…?"

Ciel sheathes his Gunblades calmly and folds his arms while allowing himself to contemplate on the matter, he looks up to the sunny day and smiles.

"The answer to that question isn't as easy as you think it might be. I regret being an assassin and killing those who were innocent…however I still have a reason to kill, the reason is just different from before. Still, if it is to make you happy, I'm only killing demons now."

"Then our enemies are the same," Eve points out quickly to everyone, Lento takes over to the fireplace and chucks a pile of fresh wood onto it boredly.

"I didn't expect you all to fight for so long, your motives are the same even if you're on bad terms with each other. Speaking of which," He slowly trails off as he attempts to hit two rocks together near the wood to start a fire. Bright red flames burst into a dancing, elegant fire that twirls furiously on the wood, Lento turns his head around and finally shows his smile. "How about we talk about it while having a nice breakfast?"

Lu feels her stomach with her incredibly small hand and nods while licking her lips with anticipation.

"Oh, that would be just wonderful."

* * *

**"Keh…so the team has ignored my warning and are now befriending the Duo. I'm especially surprised that Raven went along with it…he obviously has a soft spot for that annoying Elf. He seems to listen to almost anything she tells him to…I might have to get rid of her later on if this continues. I need them all as my puppets if I want to complete what I started. Ah! Seems like Add is back on the move. Hm, he looks a lot different from before…must be because of that core I reconstructed for him. Finally, it's like I've been waiting for my favourite TV to come on for **_**years…c'mon then, Add…" **__The masked man cackles happily and with true excitement as he shuffles around in his blue throne, he plays with the small, hovering cubes in his right hand while leaning back comfortably in his seat._

_**"…entertain me."**_

* * *

"Wow…your stories are all…really…boring…" Lu yawns effortlessly while munching down her morning breakfast, Ciel grins calmly and pats her adorable head.

"Now, now. There's no need to be so rude…" Ciel scolds her sweetly and kindly, Lu stares at Ciel with her mouth full of food for a few moments before shrugging carelessly and going back to her food. Elsword crosses his arms angrily and huffs at the insulting kid.

"Hey! If you didn't want to hear my backstory, you didn't need to ask!"

"Elsword! I thought I told you to be polite, shut up!" Aisha hisses with irritation back to the Knight, Elsword scratches his long, shaggy hair and mumbles something under his breath as a retort. Ciel's eyes meet Raven's as he continues to glare quietly at the assassin.

"There's no need to stare either," Ciel snaps with annoyance to Raven, the blade master stares at the quick flickering and curling fire and begins to eat his given breakfast.

"What exactly is your story after what happened in that forest?"

Ciel notices Lu gulp down her last bite and open her mouth to reply for him, the assassin immediately cuts her off and replies quick and simply.

"It doesn't matter."

_"Ahoho…looks like he's hiding something. Now I'm interested."_ Eun laughs quietly with interest, Aisha's eyes widen and she turns slowly to look at Ara.

"W-w-was that you just now? You sounded very different."

"Ah! No, that wasn't me. It was Eun." Ara smiles gently as she points to the white hairpin on her head, Chung stares with curiosity at the hairpin and tilts his head over to the side.

"Is something sealed in there?"

"She's my companion, she means well even if she acts strange at times."

_"The same applies to her, she can become a lot more weird than me."_

"Hey!"

Chung and Aisha both shrug casually and go back to their food, Elsword sits there and stares at everyone in shock, he points to the white hairpin and almost falls over.

"Wait, what?! Why is everyone taking that so well?! Am I seriously the only one that's questioning _why_ a hairpin can literally talk?!" he yelps, almost speechless. Lento sips a mug of hot coffee while the Knight goes on and on about how weird it is before clearing his throat and speaking.

"Honestly, these days you can see just about the craziest things occur right in front of your very eyes. It's really quite hard to surprise me now."

Eve holds both Moby and Remy quietly in her lap and strokes them both as though they were her cats, she stares wordlessly as the entire bunch slowly get more and more along with each other, except from Ciel and Raven. They were both just angrily glaring at one another. Still, both the man and the little girl don't really seem to be much harm. They might even be able to assist the team with their goals. The Queen's eyes suddenly widen as she senses something in the distance. Something dark. Something…ferocious and unforgiven. Was it that strange boy trying to get his hands on her codes?

Lu drops her last cookie with shock as roars in the distance echo across all of Feita. Rena ties her hair into a ponytail while quickly getting up and grabbing her small bow **[Wind Sneaker Attire] **and the others follow shortly.

"That must be the demon you asked us to help you take out." The Elf speaks firmly to the Duo, Lu's smile fades almost immediately as she stands up and summons her Chiliarch costume around herself, she looks at Ciel while he finishes his final biscuit.

"Yeah, and we've let Berthe wait for long enough. We need to crush him now or he'll start to make his way to this camp."

Ciel gets up and unsheathes his Gunblades while resting the left one on his shoulder. He stares at the capable team of fighters standing before him all their weapons at ready. He nods his head slowly and turns away to lead them to the beast's location.

"Indeed, and it's much better to be the one hunting than the one being hunted." He chuckles quietly as the team leave the camp immediately…and head to the distant howls of the devil itself.


	42. No 37: Slaying The Beast

**Hell once more, all you beautiful people! C: I'm back with the next part that you've been waiting for, I hope you enjoy~! I was actually planning this chapter to come out a little earlier but a bookstore just opened right next to my house and they have a special manga section for people to buy, and now I can't stop buying new series that I've never heard of before! D: Still, it's pretty interesting to watch a story unfold in a manga rather than in an anime for a change. Hehe, I'll be sure to hold myself back xD**

**A big and special thanks to Azuha and Veriphyd for both following and favouriting this story, it's wonderful to have you onboard. You're awesome! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome C:**

* * *

"Is everyone here?" Ciel gasps tiredly as he stops his endless running and turns around to stare at everyone, Lu and the others tilt their head in unison effortlessly. It seemed like Ciel was the only one who was out of breath. Elsword quickly shoves his teammates out of the way as they reach the top of the stairs on some sort of ancient shrine, he leans over the edge and observes the large drop below them. Aisha, out of sheer curiosity, leans slightly over and stares at the bottomless pit, causing her to gag and almost lose it. Elsword turns his direction of sight to the Mage and bursts into a happy laughter while pointing irritatingly at her, Rena steps between them as she sees Aisha charge a fireball in her and points to the large portal in front of them.

"L-Look at that, everyone! It's so bright…and beautiful…" She mumbles with quiet giggles as she becomes mesmerized by the beauty of the orange rift. Raven folds his arms and heaves a heavy sigh before glaring at Lu and Ciel.

"I thought you said there was a terrifying beast here that you've been hearing for weeks now, well…where is it? I'm starting to think you brought us here for absolutely nothing." He grumbles angrily as he leans onto a nearby rock near the portal and gives his feet a rest, Ciel shrugs with confusion and turns his head to Lu.

"Well? Sense anything?"

"Hmm, no. Berthe should be on top of this shrine but…I don't sense his energy here…"

"Then perhaps it has already left for the camp, we should go to Lento and-" Ciel begins to speak worriedly to his master, he reaches for his back to unsheathe his Gunblades but gets cut off by Lu.

"No! Wait, just…give me a moment." She hesitates as her eyes suddenly widen, she starts to wander aimlessly around the shrine with her arms stretched out…almost like a zombie, Chung slowly and carefully turns his head to Eve and Ara while scratching the back of his long hair.

"She's quite the strange person…isn't she?"

_"She means well, she was once an incredibly respected demon of our world. Her actions were known to be harsh at times but she always has the thought of the wellbeing of others on her mind…though I do see her treat Ciel rather cruelly at times…"_ Eun sighs from Ara's hairpin as their reply, Chung stares down at his destroyer and contemplates over the subject.

"Do you know the story between those two? Ciel seems extremely…'loyal' to that Lu…"

_"Haha, I honestly wish I did know…but for now I'm afraid that's going to remain a mystery…"_

"Alright everybody! Listen up!" Lu shouts at the top of her small lungs as she leaps on top of a large boulder and waves her hands to the team, Ciel turns around with the others and folds his arms while listening to what his master had to announce.

"What is it? Did you pinpoint the location of the demon?"

"Err…well…you see, I kinda have good news and bad news for you…"

"Eh?! What's the good news?" Elsword suddenly asks before anyone else gets a chance to say something, Lu tilts her head to the side very silly-like and sticks her tiny tongue out.

"The good news is that Berthe is very, _very _close by."

"…and the bad news?" Eve questions immediately while effortlessly searching through her holographic computer for something, Lu points her hand to the large portal and sulks uncontrollably.

"He's…err…kind of in _there_..."

"Hmph, then what are we waiting for? Everyone into the portal, now." Ciel commands boredly as he wanders over to the orange portal with his Gunblades in his two hands, he turns around with tired shock as he sees no one follow behind him. Raven raises his left eyebrow and allows himself to give Ciel another well-deserved sigh.

"There's no way you're going to force us into that thing. It's a portal, it could lead us to anywhere. It's far too risky."

"We've come too far to call it quits," Ciel responds to the blade master in an annoyed hiss, Raven shrugs simply.

"Not our problem."

Shrieking and screeching fills all of the fighter's ears as demonic figures suddenly leap out of the portal and lung towards Ciel glares silently as five demons leap onto him and begin to scratch and cut, Ciel brushes his dark blue hair out of his eyes and summons his giant blaster into his left hand and proceeds to make fireworks out of his enemies. Elsword plasters a massive, delighted grin on his face as more and more demons pour out of the orange portal and jump at the team, he raises his sword smashes it into the skull of one of demons and turns to laugh at his teammates.

"Heheheh! Looks like these guys are bringing the party to us after all!"

"I wouldn't really call this a party." Eve responds unemotionally as Moby and Remy charge towards the mini army of enemies, she allows herself to complete a quick yawn before summoning a black machine gun into her arms and directing it at the next wave of demons around her. "Disappear." She mutters as she fires a large missile that detonates her enemies. Ara lifts her spear and strikes the ambushing demons near her, she points her weapon at the creatures and takes a deep breath.

"Fierce Tiger Strike!" She yells out confidently as she charges straight for the demons and crushing them with the ground below, she then summons a large, spiritual tiger's head that explodes, destroying whatever was left of her attackers. Chung clenches his cannon and closes his eyes to concentrate as a powerful, blue aura materializes around him, he opens his mouth and unleashes the never-discouraged soul within him.

"Iron Howling!" He screams loudly as the blue shockwaves emitting from him throws the demons clumsily into the air above them, Raven and Elsword nod determinedly to each other as they both leap into the air and point their weapons at the hovering demons.

"Sonic Blade!" They both shout in synchronization as Elsword summons a spiraling, red shockwave around him, cutting the demons' bodies in two. Raven disappears completely only to reappear behind the injured demons, the demons gasp and shriek as nothing happens to them. Elsword lands back on the ground and smiles at the demons.

"Wait for it…" He mutters with excitement as Raven sheathes his blade once more. Cuts and clean slices appear on the rest of the demons in a flash after a few more seconds, Elsword laughs happily as the demons painfully collapse onto the pool of demonic blood on the ground. "Heh, never gets old."

Lu glares angrily as Ciel blocks multiple attacks and strikes from the group of demons jumping at them, she madly and irritatedly summons her demonic claws onto her small, fragile hands and stands beside her servant as he blocks yet another blow with his two Gunblades.

"Don't just keep blocking, attack them! Now!" She commands as she lungs at some of the demons and rips their ribcages out with her giant claws, green blood splatters through the air and annoyingly onto Ciel's jacket, he stares quietly at his busy master for a few moments before dashing towards the demons as well.

"Oh, you do not need to worry yourself. I can perfectly deal with these creatures." He replies firmly as he jumps in front of Lu and slashes both of his Gunblades clean through their necks and calmly watches the heads of the ugly beings slide off their bodies, Lu grins with pride and holds one of the falling heads and crushes its skull with one of her claws.

"Let's show these pathetic things whose boss! Dead Hands!" She giggles with excitement to her servant as she slowly becomes fully covered with a bright red aura, Ciel once again summons his blue blaster and aims it at his enemies as Lu charges uncontrollably at them.

"Whatever you desire, Lu. It shall be done." He responds calmly and collectively as he fires another barrage of bright blue bullets at the demons, the creatures squeal and hiss from the pain but do not back down, Ciel holds his blaster close to him and allows more of the demons to get closer to him before unleashing a blue explosion coming from his magical weapon. "Soul Extortion!" He exclaims as the explosion causes the demons to immediately flop down dead onto the cold ground while their souls collide into the awaiting Lu. The laughing demon grabs one of the large skulls rolling across the ground and clenches it curiously and happily in her hand before crushing it to absolute dust.

A dark, shadowy aura spreads and crawls around the team of fighters as it exits the massive portal. A blue beast sticks its head and glares angrily and anxiously at the humans before completely stepping out and roaring ferociously at its new enemies. Lu raises her head as she effortlessly steps over one of the bodies of the demons they just faced, she paints an excited grin on her small face as she recognizes the fierce and giant demon. She turns her head behind her and looks smugly at the fighters behind her as they all try to catch their breath.

"Hehe, there's Berthe. The ultimate and most powerful demon. Go nuts." She laughs as both a joke and command as the team immediately regain their fighting spirit and charge confidently at the large beast, Ciel rushes besides Raven as they both leap at Berthe.

"Triple Shot!" Ciel yells with power as he collects a majestic-looking energy into both of his Gunblades before firing viciously at the beast's chest, Raven points his silver blade downwards and prepares himself.

"Shockwave Divid-" The blade master begins to shout loudly before suddenly getting punching by the massive hand of Berthe, the beast turns its blue head and roars at Ciel before lifting its other hand and smashing him into the ground, Elsword lungs forward to the demon and collects red magic into his Great Sword.

"You hurt Raven! Why you-…Sandstorm!" He screams with anger and the strong sense for revenge as he materializes a large, spiraling sandstorm to crash into Berthe, the demon glares silently for a few seconds and allows the sandstorm to collide against it. It shows no signs of being hurt. Berthe jumps far up into the sky before attempting to land directly onto the Lord Knight, Ciel shakes his head and snaps back into consciousness before shoving Elsword out of the way along with himself. Aisha jumps forward to the two of them and pushes them frustratedly out of her way as she directs her magical staff to the sky before pointing it at Berthe.

"Elsword, Ciel! I'll cover you two, take it down! Blizzard Shower!" She shrieks as an immediate command to the two fighters, Ciel and Elsword both nod their head in agreement and dash towards Berthe to try to find an opening as Aisha's magic causes mini shards of ice to rain down on the beast, distracting it. They both begin to slash and cut furiously at the beast in many different areas but Berthe still showed to indication of pain or damage. The beast raises its head and releases a staggering roar that throws both the assassin and the Knight off their feet before grabbing them and hitting them against the wall. They both lose their balance once they get out of his grip and tumble weakly to the ground, out cold. Lu stares in shock as she observes Ciel lose against the beast, she summons her demonic claws once again and starts to walk madly towards Berthe.

"You've done it now…how dare you lay a hand on my servant, you mindless creature!"

Eve suddenly charges at Berthe before Lu can reach it and begins to fire different explosives at the beast, Moby and Remy constantly attempt to block Berthe's continuous and relentless attacks and clearly struggle as a lot of hits are landing on the Queen, she holds her left arm as she realizes it can no longer move and quickly summons a white energy around her.

"It seems like I'm going to need a lot more firepower for this task, activate the Nemesis code." She states to the blue, holographic screen to her right. Her attire changes slightly as her hair grows longer **[Code: Nemesis Attire]**, she snaps her the fingers of the hand she can still feel to command her assistants to her side before summoning a black gun into her arms.

"Atomic Blaster: Plasma Gun." She shouts out loud as she releases a heavy barrage of bullets out of the gun in an attempt to bring Berthe down, the beast simply raises its right arm and watches quietly as the bullets from the Queen's gun bounce harmlessly off its skin. Berthe raises its other hand and smashes into the ground in front of Eve, causing her to jump backwards in retreat. Lu darts to the beast after its attack and punches Berthe directly in the face, the beast grabs her entire body in his one hand and chucks her angrily at the floor beneath them with tremendous force. Eve gasps for the first time in her existence as she watches Lu's eyes slowly close as she can finally fight no more. Chung was bleeding from his forehead and Ara was almost down for the count herself, Rena was panting heavily and tiredly as Berthe punches her way once more as she tries to land a kick on the beast…and everyone else was already lying silently on the ground, unconscious. The Queen lifts her still-movable hand and clenches her upper clothing with it, she felt such a stinging pain in her chest and stomach whenever she would glance at her fallen teammates. Was this feeling…sadness? As Berthe smacked the three other remaining fighters and advanced towards the helpless Eve…was she feeling…the feeling of hopelessness…?

* * *

**"Keheh…she's not going to last much longer, you know. Perhaps you should step in now and finish it…" **The masked man mutters with excitement to himself as he leans on the edge of his throne, staring with amusement of the vision before him. All the fighters were either already down or just barely staying on their feet as the giant beast persists in its mindless attacks. The masked man leans forward in his seat even more as he glares at the scene of the fight happily.

**"Go on, show them what true power looks like."**

* * *

Eve stares weakly and silently as the beast reaches her and lifts its massive and heavy foot, the beast growls once more before attempting to step on the Queen like she was nothing more than a bug. Eve closes her eyes calmly and waits for her end to finally come.

"Kehehehahaha! Let's get lunatic!" A voice cackles with happiness as a lightning-fast, dark figure crashes into Berthe from the sky like a missile, Eve immediately opens her eyes to see Add standing causally on Berthe's face with a large smile on his face. He was a whole lot taller than before and almost everything about him looked different **[Lunatic Psyker Attire] **but Eve could easily recognize that unforgettable smile no matter who it was on. The beast roars with pain and agony as it forces itself back to its feet, Add stares smugly at the Queen for a few more seconds before turning back to the demon and grinning.

"I truly hope you're as strong as you look, I've just been itching for a fight!" Add laughs as he dashes forward while the Nasod Armour automatically materializes itself around his body, he raises his right leg and kicks Berthe directly in the stomach while dodging one of its punches. He holds out his right hand and collects purple plasma into his hand before turning and allowing his eyes to widen as he notices Elsword slowly get back to his feet.

"Keheh, he's a bit tougher than I expected him to be. Anyway, Quicksilver Accel!" Add cackles with delight as he holds out a ball of concentrated plasma and shoves it into Berthe's chest, causing the beast to roar even loudly and punch Add from all sides, the attacks from the massive demon ricochet of Add's body as the Nasod Armour takes all of the hits for him. He raises both of his hands to the sky and laughs.

"Keheh! What miserable excuses of attacks, you're nothing! Psychic Storm!" He shrieks at Berthe as he releases a tornado of high-velocity plasma around himself that drags the beast slowly towards him before chucking Berthe into the air, Add immediately teleports into the air with the mid-air demon and smashes it back down to the ground with his right fist before continuing his attack with an endless barrage of punches. Berthe leaps backwards and charges itself at Add, hitting the Lunatic Psyker with its head, Add tumbles painfully onto the ground but quickly jumps back onto his feet.

"It's over for you, eat some of this! Dust-"

Elsword lungs straight at the weakened Berthe as a black aura surrounds his entire body, he raises his sword and strikes downwards from up in the air, Add and Eve both watch wordlessly as the Knight drops right down to the awaiting demon, Berthe opens its mouth and prepares to release a shout that will tear Elsword's injured body apart.

"I…I…I'm…_**I'm not weak!**_" He screams angrily as his sword stabs straight into Berthe's skull before the demon could use its attack, the massive beast stays still for a few moments before dropping lifelessly onto the ground like a ragdoll. Elsword stares in a sleepy daze at his sword, which was deep in Berthe's face, and the sinister aura flickering around him. Aisha carefully gets to her bleeding feet and catches Elsword as he drops into her arms. Add's smile fades as he stares at everyone talk worriedly to each other as they all start to stand once again, one by one. He turns to notice Eve also staring at the injured team from a distance, Add shakes his head and sighs while glancing back at the team again while mumbling to Eve.

"I honestly didn't think the musclebrain had it in him, but I suppose looks are misleading, keh. Though, they really do depend and look out for each other. They don't actually look like a proper team, they look more like…a…"

"Family?" Eve finishes quickly for Add, the boy turns his head and smiles calmly at her.

"Kekeheh…I guess that's a good word for it,"

"…Why did you save me?"

Add stares with shock at the Queen and almost falls over himself, he immediately turns away again and senses his face annoyingly getting hotter.

"Bah, I wasn't trying to save you or any of these idiots. I simply wanted to test out the new, perfected Nasod Armour. Don't think about getting the wrong idea," Add snaps back angrily, the Queen stares silently at the boy as he begins to sulk slightly and shoves his hands into his pockets. This boy…he was most definitely psychotic and incredibly unstable…but deep down in his strange mind…perhaps there was something more to him, Eve thinks quietly to herself over the matter. Well, whatever the case was, the boy came to her aid when she needed it most…and for that it was courtesy for her to say something back.

"Add," Eve calls out without any signs of emotion in her voice to the boy, Add slowly scratches the back of his head and glares at the Queen, Eve holds Moby calmly in her left hand and the two words she never expected to come out of her mouth.

"Thank you,"

Add shakes his head once more and stares at the ground with a small smile.

"Keh, it was nothing."


	43. No 38: The False Celebration

**The wind was calm-yet-breezy at the camp, the sun had just began to set near the horizon. The rays of sunshine glimmered just barely on top of the hills surrounding the area, the atmosphere was depressing with its never-ending amount of black clouds. **Still, no matter how miserable, downcast and desolate the world around the camp was, the team of brave warriors' happiness couldn't be taken away from them. Tonight was a night of taking the well-deserved breaks, naps and celebration, and most of the gang had already gotten into the spirit of that celebration. They were all gathered happily into the largest tent at the camp, laughing and giggling on their chairs as they enjoyed whatever food Lento and Allegro had conjured up for them all. Lu was sitting on Ciel's lap while making quick work of the meat that was given to her. Chung gives a giant, pleased grin as he calmly takes a small bite out of his share.

"This food is absolutely delightful! We should definitely remind ourselves to thank Lento when he gets back." The Guardian speaks kindly and happily as he takes another bite, Elsword grabs a piece of the meat and chucks the whole thing straight into his mouth, all at once.

"Haha! You could say that again, he must be a skilled hunter to get all of this boar for us. We don't want to be rude, so let's be sure to finish it all!" Elsword cheers back to everyone, Rena turns to Ara while curling her green ponytail in her left hand.

"Yes, that reminds me, did you see where he went? I'm sure I saw him when we returned to the camp…"

"Ah, I saw him quickly whisper something to Allegro before suddenly running off in a hurry." Ara replies with a slight tone of worry in her voice, she looks at Allegro as he wanders into the tent with a large plate with more food on it while holding it like a shy butler.

"Allegro? What exactly did Lento tell you before he left?"

"O-o-oh…he…he just kinda g-grabbed his sword a-and…told me…n-not to worry about him. He s-said he just had s-something urgent to…t-take care of." Allegro responds in a quiet stutter back to the Elf, Aisha shakes her head in judgment as she reads one of her brown, strangely-patterned books.

"Geez, do you always have to sound so nervous? It's really annoying. And musclebrain, stop eating like such a pig." The Mage mutters with irritation while directing her glare back to Elsword, the Knight freezes and stares at Aisha for a few seconds before simply shrugging and shoving the leg of the fresh boar, that Allegro had just brought in, into his already-full mouth. Lu stares at Ciel and whispers something quietly to him, Ciel gives a heavy sigh before gently patting Lu's back, causing her to let out a loud burp. Lu puts on a satisfied grin and turns to her servant.

"Ahhh, thanks for that. I think I've had a little too much, don't you think?" She giggles as she makes herself comfortable while using Ciel as her chair. The assassin lowers his head and whispers back silently.

"…Have you not realized that you just ate the entire boar before I even started to eat…?"

"Ehehe! Never underestimate a Demon Lord's hunger!"

"You cannot use the excuse of being a demon for everything you do,"

"Yes, I can."

Ciel heaves another sigh, quieter this time, before turning his head to Rena and staring at her. Their eyes meet and Ciel gives a slightly concerned look at her.

"…how is Raven doing since we've gotten him his own tent? He seemed to be in quite a bad condition when it was all finally over."

"Oh…he's doing just fine. It didn't really look that good, but he can recover really quickly! He was actually awake and well the last time I went to check on him. I did ask him to come and join us if he could, but he said he really needed a rest."

"He did incredibly well out there, he definitely deserves some time to himself." Ciel replies simply back to the Elf, Lu raises her right eyebrow and gives her servant a suspicious look before folding her small arms. Ciel quickly notices his master's glare and stares back at her. "What?"

"I'm pretty sure just a few days before, when everyone had arrived to help us out, you two immediately tried to kill each other. What's with the sudden words of kindness, Ciel?" Lu questions her servant, almost like a professional detective. Ciel stays dead silent for a few moments before giving a careless shrug as a response.

"I just respect him and what he has done, that's all."

"He really does seem like the most respectable and reliable fighter out of all of us, or is that just me?" Ara quickly asks the team. Everyone immediately nods in agreement except for Elsword, Aisha turns her head to him and gives him a hateful, cold stare.

"You don't agree?"

"Huh? Of course I do! It's just…no one ever tells me that I'm reliable…" Elsword mutters in disappointment, Rena quickly has a cute giggle at the Knight's remark.

"Oh, Elsword. Don't think like that! You're an extremely important part of this team just like anyone else! Right, Aisha?" Rena laughs sweetly before turning her head to Aisha and giving her a commanding glare, the Mage shuffles around in her chair before looking at the Knight.

"You…might be annoying…but you're alright, I suppose." She mumbles quietly to Elsword, the Knight's face immediately brightens up as he grabs the rest of the boar and swallows it whole.

"T-thanfs!" He tries to thank the Mage while his mouth is full, Aisha turns her head and almost throws up on the floor.

"Never mind…you're just too disgusting." She hisses back at the Knight while the rest of the team as a quick laugh, even Ciel gives a quiet chuckle. Both him and Lu slowly get of their seats and straighten her clothes before Lu gives a quick wave as a goodbye.

"Well, now that I'm finally full, I'm going to take a nice little bath. Allegro! Where may I find the hot springs? Lento said there was one nearby." Lu speaks commandingly to Allegro as she slowly makes her way to the exit, Allegro readjusts his thick glasses and places the plate of food down on the table near the feasting fighters.

"A-Ah! I think…i-it's to the right o-of the altar in the centre o-o-of the camp. There a-are some walls covering the s-springs for p-p-privacy, but they a-are kind of fragile. Please d-don't touch them!" He stutters quickly to Lu, the demon grins as a 'thank you' before directing her stare to her servant.

"Good, and Ciel, you'll be coming as well to make sure that no one dares to disturb me! Also, take this." She suddenly commands to her servant before handing him a brown piece of cloth, Ciel has a few moments to himself as he silently stares it before looking back at his master.

"What is this you're giving to me?"

"What do you think, silly? It's a blindfold I made."

"O-oh! I see! Of course, forgive my foolishness."

"Ho ho, I get it now. You actually thought I was going to let you see me in the hot springs, how terrible of you~!" Lu giggles teasingly as she gives Ciel a smug grin, the assassin quickly shakes his head in denial and shoves his hands into his jacket's pockets.

"Not at all, shall we go now?" He groans tiredly as he straightens the back of his jacket and follows slowly behind Lu. Aisha boredly licks her finger and flicks to the next page of her instruction book before worriedly putting it down and scanning the entirety of the tent, Ara tilts her head slightly and looks at the Mage with confusion.

"What's wrong, Aisha?"

"…Does anyone know where Eve went off to?"

"I dunno, I think she said something about…'working on a new project' or something random like that." Elsword yawns with disinterest; Rena raises one of her eyebrows and also tilts her head.

"But…why do you ask?"

"Because, look around you…Add has disappeared too."

* * *

The Queen slowly makes her way up the rocky, grassy and tall hill in a tired daze, staring at the majestic stars and their light in the sky while doing so. She didn't know why she felt so very tired, perhaps her work in her new code was taking a lot out of her. Moby and Remy hovered and floated energetically around her with no signs of stopping, it seemed like she was the only one who felt this way. She finally reaches the top and releases a large sigh, she could have just flied to the top but she wanted to take her time to daydream and wonder while looking up the starry sky.

She rests herself on the fresh, soft grass and brushes her white hair behind her as she starts to stare at the moon. Her right ear carefully begins to twitch as she hears the sounds of footsteps behind her, she turns her head and stands back up as she notices Add motioning towards her. The Lunatic Psyker looked like nothing more than a demonic shadow before he finally reaches her and steps carelessly into the shine of the moonlight with her, a smile always present on his face.

"Kehehehe, you know…you don't look all that bad under the light of the moon, your Highness."

"So, you're still insisting on following me wherever I go. I'll warn you, I've had quite enough of your harassment."

"Kuku! What's with the sudden defensive-like stance? Do you think I'm just going to suddenly jump forward and attack you? I assure you, my 'Queen', I'm not that kind of person. Keheh!" He cackles with delight as he senses his teasing slowly get to her. Eve takes a few steps forward to Add and folds her arms angrily.

"I have trouble understanding you, why exactly do you act in such a strange way? The others are calm, sensible and collected…however you are clearly different."

"Keh, different is good, isn't it?"

"Don't give me that. Explain yourself."

Add raises an eyebrow and lifts his head to glare hatefully at the exquisite light radiating from the moon above them as his familiar smile fades away, he walks closer to Eve and leans forwards until they're only inches away from each other. His glowing, left eye meets hers as Add's 'happy face' immediately changes to a dark frown.

"Tell me, 'wonderful Queen of Nasods', what do the people in the new El Search Party mean to you?" Add asks randomly to the Queen as she senses her face becoming hotter as the small gap between them begins to bother her, she keeps quiet for a few seconds before shrugging.

"They are my allies,"

"Are they? Are you sure they are not something more to you than that? All of you risk your lives for each other every day, you always watch each other's backs and stay together…doesn't that make you family?"

"…From a certain point of view, I suppose so."

Add's eye begins to glow even brighter as he steps back from Eve and turns his head away, he takes a quick glance at the Queen as he turns his entire body around and stares down at the ground.

"…and do you think that your family will last…?"

Eve frowns and stares with confusion at Add as he fails to look at the Queen once more, she lowers her head as well and walks slowly towards the boy.

"They are powerful fighters, just like you and me. They shall not perish so quickly. They are kind and friendly allies that will assist me in my goal."

Add turns back around to look at Eve and starts laughing out of the blue as he places his right hand over his face, he glares furiously at the Queen and grins.

"Keheh, and how long do you think something like that will last? You saw it yourself in their fight against that giant demon, the one where I had to step in. If I didn't swoop in at the last second, what do you think would have happened?"

"…"

"Listen to me, Eve. You might think yourself to be wise, but you don't realize this: nothing lasts forever. No matter what it might be. One day everything you ever cared for will crumble before you, everyone in this temporary team will fall and you won't be able to do anything but _watch. _There's nothing strange about me, I simply know and understand more than those fools."

Eve stays completely silent and says nothing more as Add stands there and angrily gives her a lecture, the Queen pats Moby softly as he sadly drops into her arms once the Psyker had finished. She slowly and carefully walks closer to him and notices small droplets of tears roll out of his purple, glowing eyes and onto his cheeks, the soft sounds of weeping cannot help but echo out of Add's mouth as his head lowers in defeat. Eve stares quietly stands there and attempts to stop herself from walking any closer to the crying man. She shouldn't come closer. He's a dangerous person that she has yet to know more about. Every thought of logic in her mind tells her not to come closer. But she simply cannot resist the strange, unknown urge. She wraps her soft arms around him and allows him to sink his head onto her chest like a weeping child.

"It's…_it's not fair!_" Add hisses madly as the amount of his tears only grown, Eve had absolutely no clue what she was doing and how she was meant to comfort somebody, and the next words to come out of her mouth came to a complete surprise to all of them.

"You saved me back then, you came to assist me when I needed it most. I owe you a lot for that, and I wish to help with your problem…the least I can do know…is help you."

* * *

"R-Raven! Stop this! Look at what you've done! You've smashed the vase and broken the table in two! Calm yourself!" Rena the Elf cries out with worry as Raven struggles and shuffles around the tent madly, punching and breaking whatever furniture was in his way. Rena runs up to him and holds his Nasod Arm to restrain him, Raven growls ferociously at the Elf like an animal until his eyes meet hers. Her calm, sweet green eyes. Her beautiful hair.

"S-Seris…?"

"No, Raven. It's me, Rena. Wake up, you've had another bad dream and you're breaking things again."

He stares weakly at the Elf as he pants heavily and tiredly, he slowly wanders over to his bed and sits on it while glaring sadly at his Nasod Arm. Rena calmly sits down next to him, pulls out a small tissue and wipes away the large amount of sweat on his face. Raven's breathing eventually and gradually calms down as he slowly shakes his head.

"It happened again, it's happening every night now. I keep having that nightmare…I couldn't outrun those soldiers…I couldn't save anyone…they all died because of…my weakness."

"Raven, you cannot let whatever happened that day haunt you for the rest of your life."

The blade master lets out a deep sigh as listens to the sounds of laughter, happiness and cheering coming from the neighboring tent. Everyone was celebrated…but he simply couldn't. He lifts his head and stares at the Elf sadly, with his tired eyes, and raises his grossly and slowly mutating Nasod Arm weakly.

**"Rena, I'm running out of time."**


	44. No 39: A Very Close Call

**Helloooo! How are all of you amazing people doing? C: We haven't heard from Elesis and her partner-in-battle for a while, let's see how they are doing, shall we? C:**

**A big special thanks to Nagisaa-san for following and favouriting, you're just super awesome! It's great to have you on board, I hope you enjoy~! C:**

"Damn it, Elesis! Give me a bit of backup, would you?!" Draco questions furiously as a crowd of black, mindless demons pounce and attack him. Elesis blocks an energy blast from the mouth of one of the enemies and flies slightly backwards from the force as she hears Draco's frustrated cry. She heaves a quick sigh before dashing towards the demons, preparing herself for a counterattack.

"I thought you said you could carry your own weight! Anyways, my hands are kinda full right now! Spiral Blast!" She cries back to her partner before raising her powerful Claymore and smashing it into the ground, causing a red energy wave to materialize and crash into the several demons in front of her. Draco spits out a small amount of blood out of his mouth and allows fire to flicker and dance excitedly on his smooth skin as he glares silently at his blood on the floor. He grabs a nearby demon's head with his right, bare hand before brutally ripping it off its head and squeezing until bloody pieces oozed out of its eyes like a slimy sponge. A smile of disbelief finds its way onto his face as the flames burn brighter and brighter.

"So…you'd _dare _make me bleed? Well now, I'll have to put you back in your place, you disgusting, unsightly things! Will of Fire!" He laughs with pride as the fire surrounds and curls around his body like a second skin. A small demon jumps into the air and slashes downwards with its claws in an attempt to rip him apart. Draco chucks the empty skull out of his right hand and grins with glee as the scratch bounces off his armor of flames and causes the demon to suddenly catch on fire. Draco lungs forward, kicks the burning demon onto the floor and watches his flames slowly and furiously cut into the demon's flesh and consumes it as a fuel to burn even further. He turns his body around and prepares to cut the rest of them with his scythe but senses an incredibly agonizing pain in his chest. He's forced to spit out a larger pool of blood from his mouth as the pain only grows, he clenches his shirt and stares in confusion at his blood-drenched hands as the other demons take the sudden opportunity to dart straight at him. Draco closes his eyes and smiles as he understands why the pain had randomly haunted him in the middle of the battle was in. Even though the 'Will Of Fire' makes it seem like the attack never landed on him, he can still feel the pain normally. Elesis raises her left high-heel shoe and uses it as a knife to stab a giant hole in the brain of one of the demons on the ground in front of her. She quickly makes her way to Draco's side and gets back into her battle stance, she turns her head and looks deep into his eyes.

"This is no time to be slacking, Draco. We're not even close to being done yet…and we're nearby to the location of the demon we're supposed to kill. We need to keep moving!"

"You don't need to remind me, and don't assume I'm giving up just yet." Draco laughs back with a smirk on his face as he summons Veryx into his right hand and snaps his fingers with his left hand, causing a pillar of flames appear and engulf one of the demons. Elesis gives a relieved smile as she lifts up her Claymore and cuts through multiple beasts as she flies forwards with incredible agility. She throws her sword backwards and quickly jabs the sharp point into the chest of one of the demons before allowing her inner magic to burst it into ashes. Draco sighs as most of the demons jump towards him, leaving very little for his partner. He shrugs carelessly before holding Veryx in both of his hands and stabbing it into the ground, several blasts erupt from below and makes its way out of ground and onto his enemies. Draco laughs at the sounds of shrieking and screeching from the agony of his fire before slashing madly at them, chopping them up into bloody and torn-apart muscles and flesh. His arm begins to have a slight burning sensation as he cuts through a demon running towards Elesis' blind spot, he glares at his strange tattoo and starts to wonder. Why was it reacting to the energy he was releasing?

"Draco! Cover my right!" She commands suddenly as she turns herself around and crushes the skulls of the demons around her with the sheer weight of her Claymore, Draco dashes to her side and snaps his fingers and watches as bright sparks burst out of his fingers and around his hand. He holds out his burning hand out in front of him and fires a red blast of energy that consumes the demons on his side. The two of them fight endlessly, back-to-back, covering each other while killing as many demons as possible. The flames of Draco's soul and the energy bursting out of Elesis' Claymore could be seen from miles as it continues to engulf whatever demon dared to come close to them. Draco stabs his left hand into the skull of one of the demons and cuts clean through the legs of another one jumping at him before turning his head to his partner and giving her a delighted chuckle.

"Isn't this just so fun? They're so easy to kill as well, it's like cutting through tissue."

"Fighting…is never…fun, Draco." The red-haired Knight struggles to reply as she forces one of the beasts latching onto her off and crushing its ribcage with her shoe, Draco smiles at her response as he tears open the corpse of the demon and uses it as projectiles to the next wave of enemies. He was sure she was enjoying herself in some way, who wouldn't? Fighting on like this was just far too entertaining for anyone to deny.

"You're still acting quite righteous for a killing machine," He mutters back to her as he grabs a broken leg off the floor, setting it on fire, and chucking it at one of the demons like a fiery missile. Elesis shakes her head and stabs the beast before her in the heart, green blood gushes out of the wounds and cuts of the creatures and splatters gruesomely onto her face. All this blood wasn't in the least pleasant for her. Watching organs fly across the battlefield with waves of crimson blood flowing around her…it was as distasteful as any duty could get…but it was still what was needed to be done to protect those who just cannot protect themselves. She lowers her head sadly as the cries and screams of her enemies echo in her ear, the Knight's life was harder than anyone could imagine…how could Draco possibly enjoy it all?

"Hey, I think I see someone over there!" Draco suddenly shouts out to her, causing her to snap out of her dark thoughts. He sets a head, just rolling on the floor, on fire and kicks it like a football before directing his vision to a cart or wagon of sorts in the distance, Elesis grabs the head of a demon trying to rip her throat out and smashes another one of them with it as she forces her way through the crowd. A survivor. She was sure of it. She could clearly her a women, crying out helplessly for someone to save her. _This _was her true duty. Draco glares in confusion as he watches his partner make more and more distance between them, until she was finally out of the fight and running towards the distant wagon.

"Elesis! What the hell are you doing, are you leaving me here with them?! I can't take them all at once!" He screams furiously at her with volume as she runs further and further away, she turns her head to see him struggling as all of the demons focus their attacks on him alone. She shakes her head and instead runs faster.

"Y-You can handle it! Besides, there's someone out there! I have to save them!" She yells back worriedly, some kind of shout echoes out of Draco's mouth but she could no longer hear him. She gets closer to the cart with the person inside, a small pack of demons were digging their claws into the cart, trying to get to the woman inside it.

* * *

"S-She just left me! How could she just leave me here with all of these…things!" Draco gasps weakly as the horde of demons bite at him and cut through his soft skin, he jumps backwards in an attempt to get some distance between him and his enemies, but no success. He glares angrily at the black, mindless creatures and straightens himself and his jacket. His tattoo begins to glow brighter than before as his fire slithers slowly back to his body and forming a majestic, yellow armour around him with strange patterns. He grins with determination as all of the horde pounces at him at once.

"No matter. I don't even need her assistance. I'm a God for crying out loud! Now…all of you…

…shall bow! _Graahhh!_" He shrieks as several bursts of bright yellow flames explode out of him and crash into his enemies with an amazingly amount of power and force. The growls and hissing of the demons emit around him as the flames bite into and rip apart anything that got in the way of his blast.

* * *

Elesis crushes the last one of the demons and turns her head to the sound of a loud blast behind her, the explosion in the distance looked like a bomb just went off. A sigh of relief was all she could muster as the energy of the demons disappear from the area.

"Phew…I knew he could handle it…" She laughs tiredly before climbing up to the top of the quiet wagon, she sheathes her Claymore behind her back and opens the cart up to find a shivering woman with both of her hands anxiously shaking on her face. Elesis walks over to the crying woman and carefully places her hand on the woman's shoulder, she slowly takes her hands off her face to see a calm Knight smiling gently at her.

"Calm down, it's all alright now. The demons are gone for good. Are you okay?"

The woman eventually opens her mouth while the shivering and shaking of her body gradually calms down along with herself.

"Y-Yes…thanks to you…"

"Hey, don't even mention it. What's your name?"

"My name…is Helen…I'm just a merchant trying to make my way to the Port Lurensia to sale some of my potions and other accessories to the sailors there. But those demons…they just came out of nowhere and chased me all the way over here…and they killed the horse that was pulling my wagon…" She mutters sadly as her words almost turn into weeping. Elesis gives Helen a supportive pat on the back and holds her hand to help her out of the wagon. They both exit and stare in disgust at the dead, fleshy corpses of the demons, Helen places her left hand over her mouth and tries her best not to throw up in front of her savior.

"That is…quite unpleasant…"

"Huh? Oh yeah, that isn't the nicest thing in the world to see. Well, at least they're dead now…right?" Elesis giggles back to Helen cheekily, the woman takes a sudden bow at the Knight and puts on a grateful smile.

"Yes, and I must thank you for that. You saved me. Whatever you need from me now, please do not hesitate to ask."

Elesis stares back at her with a slight shock and rubs the back of her head and shakes it politely.

"Nah, that's fine! I'm just doing my job!" She laughs as she stretches her arms out boredly, and a tap on the Knight's back causes her to suddenly jump and give a loud scream like a little girl. She frantically turns her head to see Draco smiling weakly at the both of them, he gives a quick smirk to his partner as dark red blood oozes from the top of his head and down along his bruised face.

"Hey…you didn't just forget about me…did you now…?" He chucks quietly he wipes a small puddle of blood around his lips off and sighs. Elesis' eyes widen and she immediately gives him a strong hug.

"D-Draco! Look at you! You're going to bleed out like that!"

"Heh, and whose fault is that? Leaving me to fight by myself against so many demons…that's a bit cruel…don't you think?"

"I'm so sorry, that wasn't what I was trying to do! It's just…Helen here was in trouble…I just _had _to do something about it!"

Draco slowly pushes Elesis off of him and allows his eyes to meet the surprised ones of the merchant, she bows her head sadly.

"I'm most very sorry. I did not wish to make your friend risk your life in such a manner. You are hurt because of me, that is unforgivable on my part." Helen weeps worriedly as tears begin to form in her tired eyes, Draco shakes his head and grins happily instead.

"Are you kidding? I'm fine. In fact, thanks to being pushed even further in my limits, I'm even stronger now. All I need is just a few bandages and maybe a small health potion, got any of that?"

"Oh! Of course! Please, allow me to restore you back to health, it is the very least I can do for you two brave warriors." Helen quickly responses as she reaches into her small backpack, pulling out many different medicines neither Draco or Elesis had ever seen before.

A warm, fuzzy feeling forms around Draco's bleeding and battered body as he notices Elesis hugging him again, only this time her eyes were closed and her head was resting on his chest. He feels blood rush to his face and his body getting warmer as her warmth comforts him, Elesis smiles sweetly and speaks quietly.

"That was so brave of you, Draco. You…truly are a hero…you know that…?" The red-haired Knight whispers in a sweet tone to him, Draco glares silently at her as she doesn't break up the hug. This girl…she _really _thought that they were friends or something…it just felt…so pathetic. He places his cold hands onto her and slowly pushes her away from himself.

"Stop hugging me, it hurts."


	45. No 40: Heading Off To A New Location

**Howdy! C: Here is chapter forty for you! The weeks have been slightly taxing, I hope ya'll are having it easy! C: **

**A big and special thanks to GunzStyleBR for both following and favouriting! Thanks a bunch, mate! It really means a lot, it's absolutely wonderful to have you on board! Woop woop! :D**

**I hope you all enjoy~ C:**

* * *

"Lu, just how much longer do you wish to remain in that hot spring? It must already be around an hour that you have been in there." Ciel mutters from the outside walls of the hot springs while leaning on one of them and taking small, bored glances at his Gunblades as melodic and cheerful whistling and humming emits from inside. Lu splashes around playfully in the water but sighs at the constant nagging of her servant, she sulks into the hot water.

"Stop rushing me! A Demon Lord must have good hygiene, this amount of time of cleansing myself is absolutely necessary. Got that? And don't even think about coming in!" She yells back in tired annoyance. Ciel lowers his head and begins to stretch his hands while cracking his knuckles.

"I just have another question,"

"Bah! Alright then…what is it?"

"I'm wondering why I must wear this blindfold you've given me, I cannot see anything from here. And I can't stop anyone else from entering if I can't see them."

"It just keeps me comfortable, do not take it off. That's an order!"

The sounds of splashing and whistling finally end as Lu carefully crawls out of the hot spring, wipes herself quickly with a nearby towel and snaps her fingers to summon her Chiliarch back onto her. She slowly steps through the small door and makes her way outside to see Ciel standing outside quietly and obediently. She places her miniature hands on her hips and smiles.

"Okay, you can take it off now."

"Ah, alright. It's good to see you are finally finished."

"Yeeeep! That was definitely refreshing! We never had anything like a hot spring in the Demon Realm, when I get back there I'll surely remember to make one especially for myself!" Lu giggles as she shakes around her slightly-wet hair and patting Ciel's back. Ciel gives a short-lived grin back to her before turning his head around and watching the sun gradually arise from beyond the horizon.

The orange, awaking light glimmers and spreads across and through the skies like a wave of sunshine. Lu notices Ciel staring at the rising sun and joins in with him, they both smiled calmly as the sight of the gorgeous and majestic light of the sun. They didn't need to exchange any kind of words in this moment, they both simply breathed deeply and relaxed at the beautiful vision in front of them. Ciel eventually turns his head back to Lu and immediately allows his calm smile to fade.

"Before the day when we completed our contract together, I always believed in two things. That the moon was my only friend, and that it was the most beautiful thing in this world."

"What are you-"

Ciel puts on the most incredible smile that Lu had ever seen, this kind of smile…was filled to the brim with hope, happiness and peace. The kind of smile that Ciel had never proved to be able to show.

"Now I know that both of those beliefs are wrong. Don't worry, Lu. You _will _be the rightful ruler of your world, and in that world you can have anything you've ever desired."

"Geez, you silly, little servant. What are you suddenly blabbering on about? Seriously, I can never understand what's going on in that big head of yours.

"Sorry, please forgive me for that. To be frank, I sometimes do not know what I'm saying either."

"Yeah, you need to stop that."

"Whatever you ask of me, Lu, it will be done."

"…oh…and Ciel?"

"Yes, Lu?"

Lu starts to mumble and whisper quietly under her breath, she leans herself onto Ciel stomach and hugs him with her tiny hands. She closes her eyes and a sweet smile appears on both of their faces.

"Thanks,"

"What are you thanking me for, exactly?"

Lu glares in silence at her absolutely confused servant, she turns her head away carelessly and waves her tiny hand dismissively.

"Nevermind."

Ciel shrugs and starts to straighten his jacket while Lu taps her foot boredly on the ground while staring up at the magnificent sky, she places her hands behind her head and begins to lean against wall as well, resting next to her servant. Ciel takes another quick look at his master but fails to look away, his eyes widen and he starts to stutter uncontrollably. Lu directs her vision to the sudden expression on Ciel's face and lefts out a short sigh before raising her eyebrow.

"What are you acting so weird about now?"

"L-Lu…haven't you…noticed the difference…yourself?"

"The difference of what? Explain yourself, you're being a bit annoying now."

"Lu…I thought you would have noticed it yourself, maybe it's just my imagination but…I think you've gotten taller!"

Lu raises her other eyebrow with shock and immediately looks down at the ground and her legs, she stares silently at herself for a few seconds before yawning and giving an uninterested shrug.

"Huh, I guess so. I wonder when that happened, and we didn't notice it until now. That's good though, right? I'm slowly beginning to grow again!" Lu giggles happily while tilting her head to the side for Ciel, her servant quickly covers his mouth with his hand and clears his throat.

"Y-Yes, that's very…fortunate…" Ciel mumbles quietly, Lu looks at her slightly-longer legs and thinks over the change for a moment. If she was growing again…then one day she might become the beautiful and elegant Demon Lord she once was. _That _cheered her up. She looks back at her servant for a second and immediately places her hand on her face with embarrassment, Ciel rolls over quietly on the floor with tears rolling sadly on his face.

"…Ciel, stop crying."

* * *

"Kukuku…just look at all of this! You've truly outdone yourself this time, just look at these lines of data! So thoughtful, so well implemented, this is bloody awesome!" Add cackles happily as his left hand frantically wipes the blue hologram that Eve had summoned earlier, she was rested quietly on a wooden chair with her hands politely on her knees. Add, on the other hand, was leaning casually on his chair while scratching his spiked, white hair.

"What you are currently reading is my progress on a new project I've been working on, it is called 'Project Oberon'. If this project is successful, I can make another competent fighter to assist the team. Our struggles to get further to our goals will not be so hard as before."

Add puts on a heavily-excited grin as he quickly glances away from the holographic screen and allows his purple eyes to meet the Queen's. A cold, unpleasant shiver dances down Eve's spine as Add starts staring at her.

"Eh? Well, that just makes it even more obvious that this…err…'project' of yours is very important. Heck, I highly doubt you've told the others about this whole business."

"No, I have not."

"And that brings the interesting question, why are you showing this to me? Keheh…"

"That's simply because I know that you have an above-average ability with mechanics and coding, that was evident when you displayed your ability to control plasma itself with your Nasod weapons."

"Kuhuhuhu! Oh, now I can really see what's going on right now! Now I understand what you want from me, you want me to help you out with this crap."

"I would definitely appreciate the assistance,"

"Keheh, I'm sure you would. Still, this coding doesn't seem quite…" Add slowly begins to mutter quietly as he leans closer to the hologram with data and coding, his stare rests on the work by Eve as his eyes scan through every last piece of scripting. Moby and Remy hover and twirl in boredom inside the tent, messing around and bumping heads with each other as Add remained in absolute silence, his mind in a completely different place. Eve frowns and immediately snaps her fingers, causing her little servants to fly back to her shoulders. Add gives a quick yawn as he finally allows his eyes to stop reading the data on the hologram, his smile disappears and he looks at Eve with disappointment and deep thought.

"Yeah…I suppose this is all alright but…"

"What is it, Add? Did I miss something essential out? Is there some sort of miscalculation in one of the scripts?"

"Nope, none of that. If you just have a quick read it all seems to be well-coded and definitely looks like, with a bit of mechanical work, could be made to help you. There's just one problem with your…'Oberon'."

"Which is?"

"According to what this coding states, Oberon will follow your own commands, basically listening to your words without question. It will complete the action you tell it to do, in the way you want it to."

"Yes, that is correct."

"Well, this is just a thought but…wouldn't it be easier to just give him his own artificial intelligence so that he may do what he can to help you while you don't have to keep telling him. It seems to have a lot less…hassle that way, right?"

"That is not very important, and I do not want him to be able to have his own thoughts. That could very well be dangerous."

"Kukukuku…I didn't really expect you to agree. That's fine though."

"So, will you help me finish my work?"

Add grins even harder and glares in sudden thought at the Nasod Dynamos, he leans in forward to his machines and considered the question for a second. He lowers his head and puts his finger on his skinny chin.

_'Kekeke, at first I was thinking that helping her would do me no good, but now I know I've got this in the bag! Faking that scene and crying in front of her has soften the Nasod up a bit, now if I help her with something like this…she'll lower her guard even more! Kahaha!' _Add speaks to himself quickly in his head, his eyes meet Eve's once more and he gives an uninterested shrug.

"Sure, I don't see why not. I've been thinking about upgrading the Nasod Dynamos again, maybe joining in on your help will give me a few ideas."

Eve shuffles around and seems surprised at the boy's answer, she looks down at Moby and Remy and pats them softly as she turns her head once more to Add.

"Thank you, this work shall be incredibly difficult and it'll take quite a bit of time for us to finish it. I must thank you for your co-operation on this."

"Pffft! With my brains and your technology, this will be a walk in the park."

The entrance to the tent flies open as Raven steps in quietly and turns his head and his attention to the two, Add and Eve look back at the man in unison as he enters.

"…I hope I'm not disturbing anyone. I just forgot something here, it will only take a minute." Raven speaks quietly in a monotone voice, the area around his eyes were completely black and his posture was lifeless and weak. It looked nothing like his respectable and strong-looking composure that he always had.

"Nah, nothing important. Come on in, I guess." Add mutters with disinterest before opening up another hologram from his Dynamos and flicking through it.

"Are you feeling well, Raven? It doesn't seem like you've had enough rest," Eve questions Raven as he slouches over near a box on the other side of the tent, he searches slowly through the contents of the box silently and doesn't turn his head to look at her.

"I'm fine,"

"You do not look like you are fine, I would recommend-"

"_Damn it, Eve. I said I'm fine." _ Raven hisses as he turns his head around to glare angrily at her, Eve becomes silent as she notices the different look in his eye and that a small patch of white hair had appeared in the front portion of his black hair.

"I apologize if I'm being an annoyance, I simply just don't want anyone in the team in bad shape. You should must definitely never hide anything from your close allies."

"I'm not hiding anything important, the things bothering me are insignificant."

"You are clearly hiding something."

"Tsk! Why must everyone keep irritating me about it? First it was Rena that just wouldn't leave me alone, then Aisha decided that she was too important for anyone to keep something from her, and now you're irritating me."

"Your teammates only do those things because they genuinely care about you. You see each other as family,"

"Right now I just see them as people who just won't stop pestering me about everything, included you."

"Raven, it is plainly obvious that you are tired. You should sleep more."

Raven shakes his head, closes the box he was searching through loudly and quickly walks out of the room in a hurry. He directs his gaze to Eve and grits his teeth.

"So I can see more of those nightmares?" He mutters before stepping out of the tent, Eve turns her head back to Add and holds Moby close to her while stroking Remy.

"I wonder what is bothering him so much."

"Huh? What's bothering who?" Add asks back while failing to take his eyes off the hologram as he frantically types in another line of code.

"Something seems to be bothered Raven, it has changed his personality quite a bit."

"Yeah, whatever." Add laughs back with disinterest on the matter.

* * *

"Ruinous Impact!" Lu exclaims with absolute excitement as she lungs forwards to a black creature reaching the gate to the camp and summons a larger demonic claw to stab forward at it, ripping it apart like paper. Ciel steps quickly and with elegance in front of his master and summons his blue blaster into his left arm.

"Step back, I'll take care of the rest of them. Death Border of Marbas!" Ciel shouts to Lu as he assumes a shelling stance and fires a powerful barrage of magical bullets, Lu leaps to his side as he stops firing to hold both of her demonic claws out and release another burst of energy.

"Hehehe! Don't think you can trick me into having the fun all to yourself, I'm going to take down a couple for myself too! Evil Claw!" She giggles through the thrill of the fight, Ciel chucks his Gunblades into the air and holds his blue blaster in both hands for more accuracy.

"It's not because I want to fight alone, it's simply because your way of fighting lacks proper cleansing. Nothing must remain of the enemy, all of it must vanish. Soul Extortion!" The servant yells back to his master as he fires off a blue wave from his blaster, absorbing the souls of the demons in front of him and reducing them to ash. Lu cocks her head to the side as Ciel holds both of his hands up to the sky and catches his Gunblades, only to leap back and fire a short-lived barrage from them. "Triple Shot!"

"This is getting very boring now, there's only a few of them left. Ciel, let's get rid of the rest of them now. They are no longer of amusement to me." Lu sighs with boredom as she hovers in the air like a majestic angel and sits on her servant's shoulder while holding her left claw outwards. Ciel nods his head in agreement and fires off whatever remained of their magic at once.

"Eschaton!" They both exclaim in sudden synchronization as their magic materializes a rift to the Demon Realm that allows a burst of concentrated spiritual energy to crash into the demons like a massive arrow.

A dark figure leaps from out of the sky and lands straight into the explosion the Duo had created.

"Windmill!" the figure laughs as he cuts and slashes through the demons' necks and chests while spinning rapidly, slicing into them like tissue as they stumble onto the ground, only to evaporate from the energy coming from Lu and Ciel's magic. The explosion gradually ends and the rubble finally settles to show Elsword's cheeky smile as he wanders over to the Duo while waving his right hand in a friendly manner.

"Heh! That was way too easy. The waves of demons are usually a lot more than this, it's hard to say that I'm not disappointed."

"You didn't need to jump into our fight like that! Allegro said it was our turn to hold the creatures back from the camp, wait your turn…you fool!" Lu huffs and puffs with irritation as she stomps her left foot into the ground, Ciel places his hand onto her head and shakes his head at her to calm her down.

"Forgive us for not being so grateful, we just believe that we had that battle completely under control."

"I know, I know. I only interrupted your fun because you were going to drag it out. But we need to leave in an hour."

"Wait, what? You want us to leave the camp?" Lu questions in confusion, Ciel raises his right eyebrow and folds his arms silently. Elsword nods causally and scratches the back of his head slowly.

"Yeah, apparently Allegro was cleaning Lento's tent just a couple of minutes ago but found some kind of letter under his pillow. It was an envelope with the crest of Velder on it, and it asked Lento to go over there as soon as he could, they're also having trouble with the demon invasion over there."

"That makes no sense though, why did Lento choose to not say a word to us and not ask for our assistance? He could have stayed here while we went over to help the people." Ciel mutters quietly while turning his head to Lu's, his master shrugs her small shoulders and yawns.

"Beats me, I have no idea."

"Neither does the rest of us, but what we do know is that Lento will be killed out there if he decides to go alone. Raven was the most worried out of all of us, he seemed really angry when Allegro told us about what he found. "

"That must be because he can relate to Lento," The servant replies while sheathing his Gunblades and brushing the dust out of his hair.

"Maybe, but he said that not a moment should be wasted and that we're leaving right now."

"That sounds like something he would say."

"Hey…I thought _you _were the boss of your team, right?" Lu teases in a cheeky fashion to the Knight while giving him a smug grin, Elsword's face becomes red and he walks away in a huff. Ciel turns his head and directs his vision back to Lu only to raise his eyebrow as well. He folds his arms and gives his master a scolding glare. "Don't look at me like that,"

"That was going too far, Elsword is a respectable fighter and he has obviously faced many hardships. There's no need to say such things to him."

"Hey! Since when were you allowed to scold me about things? I'll do what I want!"

Ciel shakes and turns his head away from his master, he chuckles quietly under his breath and begins to walk with the stubborn and irritated Lu following angrily behind him.

"I'm sure you will,"


	46. No 41: The Trust Issues

**Helloooo~! How are you all? I hope everyone is doing good! C:**

**Sorry if this was slightly late, the next chapter will also be a little late due to the fact that I have to move houses D: I'll still bring out the next chapter as soon as possible~!**

**Well, well, well! Would you look at that? Lu and Ciel's teasers for the North American server, won't that be fun~? C:**

**Special thanks to dalonadon71201 for placing this story into his favourites! That's super awesome of you, it's great to have you onboard~! C:**

**Note: My notifications have been out of wack for some reason lately, if you've followed/favourited and I haven't thanked you it's because of that. I'll try to get it fixed!**

* * *

The team trek along the bumpy and tough ground beneath their feet under the bright, radiant light of the sun. They all had many bags on their backs, holding tightly onto the heavy luggage as they wander through a lush, green and rather smelly forest. Raven and Elsword were at the front of the pack, having most of the equipment and luggage on them. Rena, Aisha and Chung were following the two in the middle of the pack. Add and Eve were hovering quietly just above them, and Lu and Ciel were at the very back of the group with Ara smiling excitedly beside them. Ciel turns his head to Lu's and raises his right eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"Are you not going to carry anything at all?"

"What? Of course not! I've trusted you to hold my share of the luggage, you should be honoured!" Lu scolds angrily while folding her small arms, Ciel heaves a short sigh and grins sadly.

"Very well, I shall hold whatever it is you desire. It would just be nice if you asked me first, instead of just chucking your bags suddenly at me."

"Hehe~ Okay, I promise to ask first, so…could you carry me as well? My feet are getting a little tired."

"…Do you want to kill me…?" Ciel pants in extreme exhaustion as he almost drops the bags in his hands, Ara leans into their conversation and puts on a kind smile.

"Hey, are you guys excited?"

"Excited for what?" Lu responds back to the martial artist with slight confusion, Ara tilts her head to the side.

"Oh…you know, it's just…I haven't really been anywhere else except for my home and Feita's camp. I'm just eager to know what the rest of the world looks like!"

_"Sounds a little sad, doesn't it? Almost makes me want to cry." _Eun chuckles teasingly from Ara's hairpin as a reply, Ciel and Lu both smile and laugh as Ara's face becomes completely red and flustered.

"S-Stop it! Don't make fun of me like that, Euuuun!" the martial artist cries out in an upset manner, Ciel picks up his pace and leans his head close to Lu's right ear as Ara argues loudly behind them.

"Quite the energetic one, isn't she?" the assassin whispers calmly to his master while looking out in front of him. Lu stays silent and shrugs her shoulders in boredom, she turns her head to her servant and glares quietly at him.

"…I'm really hungry right now."

"Well, to be completely fair, I _did _warn you that the journey would be long and that you should eat something before we left,"

"Whatever, do you have anything on you that I can have?"

Ciel lowers his head and searches slowly through his jacket's right pocket and shuffles his hand around a bit before pulling a fruit out.

"I have an apple,"

"Hehehe~ Perfect! Hand it over!"

"Very well, here you go." Ciel mutters with disinterest before holding his hand out and waiting for Lu to take it. The Demon Lord puts on a pleased grin and reaches out for the apple, a purple, electrical Dynamo quickly flashes in front of Lu and snatches the apple straight out of Ciel's hand before zooming over to the airborne Add and dropping it into his hand. He smiles in victory, leans comfortably on his hovering Dynamos and takes a huge bite out of the fruit. Lu's face becomes the same colour as the apple itself, she shakes her clenched fists angrily at the sky.

"_Heeey!_ That was supposed to be mine, how dare you?!" the master shrieks madly at Add, the teen simply chuckles and takes another bite out of the apple. Ciel lowers his head again and looks at his empty hand in silence, Lu turns her head to him and huffs.

"Well? Aren't you going to say anything, Ciel?!"

"…Huh, that was pretty quick."

"Kehehehe! Sorry about that, I just needed to test out the new artificial intelligence I'm trying to install into the Dynamos. It looks like it can perform simple tasks but…it still needs a lot of work."

Eve, hovering quietly in the air beside Add with Moby and Remy in her arms, turns her head and speaks back to him in a monotone voice.

"Is that really the truth?"

Add cocks his head slightly to the side, scratches his head and allows his smile to grow larger.

"Well…I was also in the mood for something to eat, I guess."

"Y-You! You're just…despicable! As a Demon Lord of the demon realm, I swear that I'll never forget this act of crime against me!" Lu growls before once again folding her arms and staring at the ground, Ciel smiles calmly, places his hand on her head and holds something small out in his hands.

"There's no need to be so upset, here." He chuckles to his master as he hands her a chocolate chip cookie, Lu immediately regains her large grin and grabs the cookie before eating it all in one bite. Ciel lowers his head and shakes it as Lu savagely eats the treat he had given her. Elsword turns his head backwards and grins kindly at the assassin.

"Do you have anything else on you? I'm a little hungry as well…" He mumbles sadly, Aisha raises her staff and smacks the Knight in the back of the head and grabs his right arm.

"We're almost at Velder, so stop complaining!"

"A-Aisha! There's no need to use violence, Elsword was just asking Ciel politely!" Chung stutters while looking at the Mage in shock, Aisha sighs and places two of her fingers on her forehead while closing her eyes.

"…Sorry, I've just been a bit on the edge for some reason…"

"Kuk! That would be because we're about to jump into the middle of a war? I don't know why you would be so nervous about something like that, I've never been more excited." Add cackles in delight as he slowly hovers back to the ground along with the Nasod Dynamos and begins to walk normally like the others. Eve strokes Moby in her left arm while poking Remy's face before speaking.

"Indeed, the war between the humans and the demons is mostly based in Velder and Hamel at the moment, however…this is the perfect opportunity to push ourselves even further." Eve states firmly to the team, Ara looks quietly and with curiosity at Raven as he wanders silently at the front of the group and shuffles closer to him.

"Raven…you've been really quiet since we left the camp, is everything alright?"

The Blade Master slowly directs his tired vision to the martial artist and the eyes of his slightly-worried companions, he puts on a weak smile and sighs quietly.

"I'm fine, it's just…I haven't been to Velder in a long time. I'm afraid…because whatever damage we'll see there…will probably be because of my attacks on it before I met you all."

Rena gently places both of her hands on his shoulders and looks at him in his tired, yellow eyes firmly.

"This is now your road to redemption, and to start going down that road…you must first see what you have done with your own eyes."

"…I know,"

The team all silently drop their heads except for Add and Eve as the depressing atmosphere slowly takes them over, Add tilts in his head to the side and grins in confusion. He glares at the group as they sadly walk on before simply shrugging and whisking out the holograms on the Dynamos and tapping codes into it. Eve raises her head once more and breaks the silence.

"That's not all that is bothering you, Raven."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Elsword responds in a surprised fashion, Raven turns his head to look at Eve and stares daggers at her.

"Except from heading to Velder, I'm fine. You have been persistent for a while now to prove that there's something else even though there isn't, stop being so foolish." Raven hisses madly at the Nasod Queen as a reply, Eve directs her vision to his arm and points quietly at it while the rest of the team watch the scene in awe.

"I am almost certain that your Nasod Arm was silver until just a short while ago, why am I seeing it turn black now?"

"Tsk!" Raven mutters as he anxiously hides his arm behind his back and stares at his team in pain.

"Kekeke! And is it just me, or am I seeing a bit of flesh on the side of the Nasod Arm? Don't tell me…your arm must be mutating! Geez, now it's just painfully obvious." Add laughs with utter curiosity at the Blade Master while attempting to hold his laughter in, Aisha and Elsword both turn their heads back to Raven and both take a quick look at his strange-looking arm.

"Is…is this true? Is your arm…growing, Raven?" Aisha whispers worriedly in the murmur emitting from the team, Raven raises his Nasod Arm with its black spots and pieces of flesh and lowers his head slowly in defeat.

"Yeah! We need to know if that's true, it's important!" Elsword protests with obvious disappointment all over his face, Rena stands strongly next to the Blade Master and waves her left hand reassuringly to the group.

"P-Please! Don't just suddenly ask him about this, it's not something he can talk about so freely right now!"

"That's not a clever thing to say, Rena. Like it or not, our goals are currently aligned and we're supposed to be a team. We're about to step into the middle of a war between two powerful races, there might be soldiers as well on that battlefield, but we'll all be fighting alongside each other. If there was any time for us to fully be able to trust each other, it's most definitely now." Ciel mutters firmly to the Elf as he brushes a strand of black hair out of his eyes and places his hand safely on his sheathed Gunblade behind him. He walks ever so closer until he dangerously close to Raven.

Lu shrugs her small shoulders boredly and lets out a quick yawn before following calmly behind her servant.

"I don't really know what's going on here, but if you feel like this man is a threat to us, Ciel, then you have my permission to get rid of him."

"I do not wish to fight anyone right now, and I do not believe he is yet a threat to us…" Ciel speaks back to his master while looking calmly at her, he turns his head back to Raven and glares silently into his yellow eyes. "…I just want to hear the truth from himself."

"No! Please, don't force him to say anything right now! Can't you see that he's struggling terribly?" Rena protests back to the servant's statement as Raven and Ciel both stare quietly at each other, she grabs him by the sleeve and attempts to hold her tears from rolling down her cheek. "…please…"

Ciel's eyes widen as his eyes meet hers and his sense of déjà vu comes rushing back through his mind, he slowly opens his mouth and tries to say something but he fails to make a single noise. Lu grabs his other arm after sensing anything wrong with his mind, she guesses the problem and gazes firmly into his eyes.

"Don't let the past get you again," She commands as Ciel's vision of the Elf changes from the green-haired girl from the forest back to Rena the Elf, he shakes his head quickly and scratches the back of his head anxiously.

"Sorry…I just lost my focus there for a second. Raven, tell your teammates right now. Is that arm of yours finally taking you over?"

Raven turns his head away from the assassin's and looks quietly at the waving and fluttering leaves swaying and dancing through the air, he smiles a weak smile and nods his head carefully.

"I am uncertain if the Nasod Arm is taking me over, however…Eve is right, my arm is slowly mutating and changing. I do not know what the cause is or how to stop it. I have faith in myself that I will not be controlled again…but I will not resist if any of you strike me down here."

Everyone in the team stare sadly and in pity of the weak and tired Raven, Ciel folds his arms and shakes his head quietly and begins to walk slowly again.

"I just wanted to hear it from you, I have no doubts that you'll overcome that arm. I have no intentions of striking you down."

Chung quickly grabs hold of his Destroyer on the ground and follows quickly behind the assassin while looking kindly at the Blade Master.

"M-Me neither! I have faith in you too!"

Ara bows her head in respect to Raven before following calmly as the others quietly take off as well, Raven and Elsword are left behind as the rest all begin to walk once more. The Knight grins supportively to his pal and slaps him hard on the back before walking with the group as well.

"Heheh! Don't worry about a thing, man! We've all seen your willpower and strength, there's no way that the silly piece of machinery will take over you again! Come on, there's still some way to Velder and the sun won't stay up forever!" The Knight laughs cheerfully to his friend, Raven puts on a small smile and follows reluctantly alongside Elsword.

"Thank you all, for never giving up on me." He mumbles in almost-silence to the team, Add cackles happily while hovering in mid-air and plays with his white hair.

"Just as long as you don't get in the way, I won't kill you either. Kekeke!"

Raven lowers his head over to Elsword's ear, takes in a deep breath and whisper to the Knight the words that he knew would keep his friends safe.

_"…If I do not make it through the mutation of my arm, I want you to kill me before I harm anyone, alright? I know the others will refuse to do it and will hesitate, but I want you to stay strong and do it if you have to. When the day comes, I'll be counting on you…so please, promise me…Elsword." _

The Knight stares quietly and sadly at the ground as they reach the end of the green, lively forest. He senses the salt of his tears as it drops down his face weakly.

"I…I…"

**"I promise."**


	47. No 42: The Desperate Battle For Velder!

**Wait whaaaaaat?! The next chapter is out so soon? How come?! 0.0 Well, since I found out that it'll take a lot of time to set up the internet again once in our new house I've decided to give the next chapter of the story out a little earlier to buy me some time! :D Your patience and support is very much appreciated~! C:**

**A big, special thanks to NaruSaku1995 and Sky-Of-Silver-Lining for following! It's just great to have you join me on this crazy ride, you're just super awesome~! :D**

**Feedback is very much welcome, I'm always looking for new ways to improve the quality of the stories! C:**

**It'll take me a little more time than usual to bring out the next chapter, so I truly hope you enjoy this chapter in the meantime! C:**

* * *

"Yes, that is all that I know about the enemy. If I knew anything more I would have told you, however Allegro's progress in research on the creatures has been…relatively slow, sir. We've been holding the camp back in Feita for a while now but I already know that it won't last. I came as soon as I got your letter, leaving a few allies behind to cover for me while I'm gone."

Lento sits on the wooden chair in the dark, smoke-filled room, the bearded and easily-intimidating face glares quietly at the soldier's report. The man slowly gets up from his exquisite, expensive and red chair and stares at Lento from across his desk. The way that the man carried himself and his stature in general automatically made him the person in control, Lento had difficulty feeling inferior to anyone he had met before, until now.

"…I'm glad that you came when you did, we've also been holding our ground here. Still…Velder has never been in such a terrible state, even with the airstrikes that were fired at us by that mystery man gone…we're facing heavy resistance from the enemy." The smartly-dressed man speaks back to his soldier while glancing determinedly at the map of the village stapled onto his wall. Lento shuffles around uncomfortably in his chair and lowers his head and gazes anxiously at the marble floor below him.

"Has the army acquired anymore intel about the creatures?"

"Very little, but we've found out a few things. We know for sure now that the demons don't just randomly appear and attack, strange things that resemble portals or what you would call…'rifts' will open and the enemy slowly pours out of them. No matter what research we conduct on these portals that let the creatures out we have no clue why they open or how to prevent them from ever opening."

"That's exactly what happens at our camp, however they only ever attack at night and the amount of them is very little. It's quite rare for a lot of them to attack in one night."

"Yes, it's very clear that the enemies influence in that region is significantly less than here. The creatures attack at any time, we've had to set up posts with a plentiful amount of capable soldiers at every corner of Velder."

"You have done an incredible job, sir. Velder would have already been lost to the enemy without your support." Lento states firmly and with a large amount of respect in his tone before raising his right hand and saluting, the man waves his hand dismissively and sighs.

"Alas, no matter how hard our effort is…we're still losing ground at a tremendous speed. We're always running low on soldiers with the current death rate of our fighters, if I had to guess how long we have left in Velder in our state at the moment…I'd say…another two weeks at the most. We had already evacuated the civilians of the village a month ago, we only stayed because we just cannot afford to lose anymore ground to the enemy."

"But sir, why not request immediate support from Hamel?"

"Unfortunately their case is even worse than ours. Not only are the attacks from demons there constant, but they also have their hands full with the White Colossus, and if the Colossus is anything like the legends about him are, Hamel has almost no time left."

"That is most unpleasing to hear, sir…but why have you called me here during this crisis? The letter you sent said whatever you wanted me for was extremely urgent."

The bearded man stares quietly at the soldier and folds his arms before leaning in closely from behind his table, the smell of alcohol and smoke lingered from his tired breath.

"Listen to me, Lento. We gave you orders to set a camp in Feita to learn and research about the enemy, to hopefully give us the perfect way to defeat them all. It's not because you have failed this mission, but we all know just how skilled you are and right now…we need every last capable fighter. I'd hate to say this, but we're desperate. I have called you here to ask you to get yourself to the front lines of this war and protect the innocent people of this world."

Lento immediately stands up from his chair, raises his chin in pride and salutes with his right hand once again. He gives the man his most determined and firm glare and speaks.

"Whatever you ask of me, sir. It is an honor to be put at the front lines of battle. I shall head into this war for peace right now, I shall complete my duty as a soldier."

The man smiles in relief and slowly lifts his right hand to salute the same way back to his soldier.

"…may you die a hero, soldier."

"Thank you, sir."

The captain breaks his salute to Lento after a few silent seconds and sits down restlessly in his large chair, he reaches and searches through the drawers of his table while humming a quiet tune. He pulls out a brown slip and holds it out, Lento carefully grabs the piece of paper and allows his eyes to quickly skim through the contents.

"That will send you straight to the West Post at the very edge of Velder, the activity of demons is the most in that post. I'm counting on you to do your best, if you can hold the enemy back by yourself then I can take more soldiers from that post and place them in places where more soldiers are needed. Is that clear?"

"Crystal clear, sir. I will head over to that post immediately."

As Lento slowly walks to the door to the office, whispering and murmuring emits quietly from outside. The soldier quickly grabs the door handle and swings the door open, the sight before Lento almost makes him fall over himself as Elsword grins happily with his excited team behind him. The Knight's cheeky grin only grows as he sees Lento's surprised face, he stretches out his arms boredly and yawns.

"Yo, took us a while to get here. So, when do we start killing the demons?"

* * *

The red-haired Knight sighs as the sounds of clashing swords and screams of weaker soldiers echo from outside the small hut. She shuffles around weirdly in her new armor **[Grand Master Attire] **and looks over to her partner, slowly and quietly preparing himself for the fight. His long hair constantly bothers him as he continuously pushes and brushes it out of his face, causing Elesis to giggle at how funny the sight was. Draco immediately turns his head around to glare at her.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Hehe, nothing important. Are you ready to head on out? We can't just stay in his hut forever, let's head to the front lines of battle~!"

"Shut it, there's no need to be so excited about another war to fight in." Draco mutters with a clear and harsh amount of hate in his voice, Elesis' smile completely fades away as they both carefully exit their resting spot and watch soldiers run frantically past them, desperate to get to their designated posts to protect.

"Draco…just what exactly is up with you right now? You've been really mean since we've reached Velder."

"…why are we even here…?"

"Huh? Because Helen needed to get here to sell her merchandise, then the captain recognized me and politely asked us to assist them, remember? You were there for all of that."

"That's not what I was asking, I meant…why are we standing in the middle of a war? In the very centre when men and women are just foolishly running to their deaths? Why are we forced to witness these idiots kill themselves over this?"

"What are you trying to say? Those demons are coming to destroy everything we know and love, this war is necessary."

A spark of fire flickers inside Draco's right eye and a shiver of anger and disgust crawls up his spine from the words of the Knight, he forcefully grabs her left arm and stares daggers into her red eyes.

"War is never necessary."

"It does when you're fighting for innocent people,"

"Innocent people? Really? You honestly believe humans are innocent? Humans are the furthest thing from innocent. They are all greedy, needy and selfish beings who act all tall and mighty but are cowards deep down. The wars that humans wage are made from the pure stupidity of mankind, and because of that…the ones that truly are innocent are killed. Look around you, Elesis. Take a nice, long look at these soldiers around us. They're mindless. Fooled into believing their deaths mean something, but in the end it never really had any gain. I enjoy fighting…but I despise wars. So, never tell me that wars are necessary again, got that?"

The red-haired Knight slowly lowers her head and rubs her left arm as a small sting buzzes through her bones, she glances quietly at her partner and looks back at the West Post.

"…Will you still fight alongside me?"

* * *

"Tsk, Giga Drive…Limiter!" Raven yells angrily as he jumps out of a painful attack from one of the demons and stabs his blade into the ground, causing a blue blast to erupt from the floor and engulf the enemies in front of him. He takes another quick leap backwards as the next wave of demons immediately follow up from the deaths of the last ones, he turns his head around as his back bumps into something. He takes a sudden sigh of relief as he realizes he's just back-to-back with the excited and cackling Add.

"Kuk! These guys just keep coming, huh? This is definitely a whole lot more mindless creatures to crush than Feita, remind me to thank Lento later for letting us in on the fun! Mind Break!" The Lunatic Psyker laughs happily as he directs the Nasod Dynamos to hover over the demons and cause their skulls to burst open. Raven stabs his blade through the stomach and notices Lu and Ciel battling not too far away from them, he catches an enemy about to attack Add and slices its feet off before crushing its head with his foot.

"Where are the others? I do not see them."

"Well…musclebrain, the loud purple-haired girl and Rena all went to the West Post, and all the others are at the main gates, helping out injured soldiers. We've just got to take care of the El-damned things over here on the East Post until those portals close up again. Reverse Reactor!" Add responds quickly and with little thought before firing a beam of plasma at a group of enemies and teleporting towards them to hit them with a barrage of Nasod Armor-powered punches. Raven sighs once more as the tired and weak feeling of the settles in to him, he slowly glares at his Nasod Arm as another group of demons lung towards him.

"No, I'll never resort to it. Never. Wolf Fang!" He solemnly swears to himself as he leaps up into the air and slashing rapidly as he reaches the ground, catching multiple enemies and cutting clean through them.

Lu summons a comfortable and luxurious-looking throne behind her and sits on it with obvious delight as her servant stands protectively in front of her with his large, blue blaster in his left arm. He fires a large stream of bullets made from compressed magic, consuming the creatures one by one.

"Bah! These weak little things are nothing but an insult to the demon race, whoever made these impostors are going to be paid dearly! Ciel! Dispose of them immediately, get them out of my sight!" The master cries out as a strict command to the assassin, Ciel quickly nods his head understandingly and points his blue blaster at the next wave of enemies.

"Of course, Lu. I will get these insulting and disgusting creatures out of your mighty presence, Fantasy Impromptu, First Movement!" He exclaims as he buries the demons with a constant barrage of magical bullets from the Gunblade in his right hand and the blue blaster in his left one. Lu jumps cheerfully out of her majestic throne and floats in a mesmerizing manner above Ciel's head.

"Let's end this, my faithful servant!"

"Very well, they will now witness the true power of Terror. Fantasy Impromptu…Second Movement." The assassin states in a monotone voice before rapidly firing powerful blasts from his blaster in all directions uncontrollably, Lu simply places her hand over her tiny mouth and giggles proudly as her servant reduces their enemies to dust.

"Ehehe~ I hope our allies on the West Post are holding up as well as we're all doing over here, this is almost too easy."

"I do hope them the best of luck, especially the ones at the main gates…it's really quite obvious there are going to be many casualties."

Lu shrugs in boredom and disinterest and yawns with a small smile on her cute face.

"You worry way too much,"

* * *

"Give the order for all of the soldiers here to retreat, we're going to hold the West Post by ourselves!" Elesis quickly requests of the commander of the troops holding the post, the man stares with his eyes wide open and begins to stutter.

"B-B-But…!"

"Oi, don't you have any clue who this Knight is your talking to? She's the legendary red-haired Knight, so let us through and do what we say." Draco hisses in annoyance at the stuttering commander, the man stares quietly at the long, black-haired fighter with a scythe in his hands before looking back at Elesis.

"B-B-B-But…we just let the red-haired Knight in a few minutes ago to hold the demons off!" The commander gasps as he opens up the small gate leading to the West Post, Elesis squints her eyes and glares in curiosity at the other red-haired Knight fighting viciously with the creatures, alongside some strange-looking friends, in the distance.

"…Elsword…?"


	48. No 43: A Violent Reunion

**Hellooooooo~! It's great to be back after so long, it's felt like forever!**

**Special thanks to Anysa Evans, Hatsune Feii, Netishi, and iluvyaoi! You're super awesome, you know that? Thanks for your support, it seriously means the world to me! I hope you'll stick with me through this crazy journey~! C:**

**P.S: Hey Netishi, thanks for your feedback. I'm really glad that you enjoyed! I do try my best to capture the personalities of the characters, it's good to know that I'm on the right track! Got any suggestions for future chapters? I am all ears! C:**

**And another P.S: Hello, Maha. I admit, that would be pretty awesome...who knows...? ;)**

**(sorry that I didn't just PM this to you, my messaging is glitch)**

**I hope you enjoy~! C:**

* * *

Explosions and the shrieks of agony echo slowly throughout the main gates of Velder, soldiers rushing towards the people assigned to take care of the injured, the gurgling and screeching of pain ringing loudly in everyone's ears. Eve stares quietly at the battlefield in the distance, watching the miniature explosions go off one by one. The rest of their team was out there, in the middle of all that chaos. Would everyone make it out there alive? She had her doubts.

"Oh no! We've got another one, Chung!" Ara shouts out through the smoke and dust of battle, Chung turns his head around worriedly while treating to a woman with blood smeared all over her forehead.

"Urmm…let's see, a missing arm…and he seems to be bleeding heavily from the stomach! W-what should I do?!" The martial artist yells out in terror as the man lying down in agony before her stares directly into her eyes. Chung shakes his head restlessly as he reaches for a small piece of string on the ground and uses it to tie his hair into a ponytail, he could barely see with his hair constantly flowing in front of his face. He walks over to Ara and notices the tears gradually pouring out of her eyes, the blood was everywhere…on the grass beneath them, on the bandages they had in their hands, and on their own faces. Chung places his hand carefully on her shoulder and gives her a reassuring look.

"Come on, Ara. I need to focus right now, okay? We've still got a lot more soldiers to help out after this, we cannot afford to waste any time. I might've had medical training back in Hamel, but I simply can't take care of all these people by myself. I know this is hard…but we have to do this, the team is counting on us to keep these fighters alive."

"Y-You're…right! Well, what should I do with this man? He looks like he's in a lot of pain, and he's quickly losing blood!"

"Get some bandages from that drawer over there and wrap it tightly around the area where he lost his arm, and apply some pressure to his stomach."

"B-b-b-but…he _will_ make it though, right?"

"…"

"C-Chung?!"

"…I'm not going to lie to you, Ara. He's probably going to bleed out in the next minute even if you do all of that. His wounds just seem too great…but we won't know for sure until we try! Get those bandages on him!" Chung commands frantically, Ara quickly and anxiously nods before getting up from her sitting position and running towards the drawer with the medical equipment. Chung sighs heavily before looking up at the hovering Nasod above him, Eve sits calmly in the air…simply watching the events transpire before her.

"Aren't you going to do anything, Eve? We could use some more help, you know!"

"I shall not help restore these humans back to health, humans refuse to ever repair the Nasods…so I will refuse in the same way."

"Don't be like that! This isn't about the past anymore, these people need our help, we have to do something for them!"

"You cannot force me to do something that I do not wish to do,"

"I'm not forcing you into anything, I'm asking you…as an ally…please put aside that hate from the past, these are innocent lives that will be lost even though we could have saved them. Both Nasods and humans are living beings, would you ever let an innocent, living being die?!"

"…I do not have that desire."

Chung dashes anxiously towards another bleeding solider and immediately begins to wrap large rolls of bandages around the man's ripped-apart body. He glares in frustration at the Nasod Queen above him and chucks a box of medical equipment at her.

"Then for El's sake, save some of these people!"

"…very well, I suppose I could help out a bit." Eve mutters quietly under her breath as she slowly descends back to the ground and flicks her wrist to summon a sliver hologram, she taps on it multiple times and drags it in front of her while staring at a bleeding woman with both of her legs gone. She looks silently as the hologram scans the woman and gives instructions on how to stop the bleeding, Eve effortlessly opens up the medical box and starts to wrap it around the correct areas. The woman cries and screams from the pain as the Nasod Queen quietly does her work on the area where the soldier had lost her legs. The soldier weeps softly as Eve dabs a cloth gently on her wounds and stares sadly into her eyes.

"W-w-w-w-w-will…I…make…it?"

"…if you shut your mouth and stop your annoying screaming, perhaps so."

The hologram giving feedback and more instructions begins to vibrate violently in the air as large words pop up on the screen, Eve glares at the sentence and lowers her head angrily.

**INCOMING CALL COMING FROM UNKNOWN SIGNITURE**

"Answer," Eve commands the system reluctantly, already having a pretty good idea of who was trying to give her a message, the hologram vibrant a few more seconds before displaying a grinning face with bright, purple eyes.

"Kahahahaha! How's it going, oh precious Nasod? Having fun being a nurse while we're out here crushing the pathetic and mindless demons on the battlefield…?"

"I am quite busy at the moment," Eve hisses furiously as she wipes the crimson-red blood off of her hands and onto a nearby towel, she doesn't turn to look at the hologram and quicky continues on the injured soldier. "How were you even able to connect to my system and configure it to have the ability to talk to you?"

"Keh! I might have installed into your system while you were asleep, you really shouldn't leave holograms floating in the air, for anyone to mess with them."

"At least you were not able to collect my codes," Eve shrugs carelessly, Add's happy face slowly turns into a frown as he sulks slowly and whispers something angrily to himself.

"Yeah, whatever you did to keep me from accessing the codes in your system, it's pretty damn good. I spent the whole trying to hack through it, it angers me just thinking about it."

"…why did you even call me, Add?"

"Just wanted to test out the talking feature, and it seems to run smooth…then again it was programmed by me, how could it _not _be smooth? And also, we're done with the demons over here. We destroyed the portal that the demons were coming out of, we're going to head back to you in a bit."

"Any news of the Elsword, Aisha and Rena at the West Post?"

"Hmmm~? Is someone feeling a little worried about her friends? Well, if we could handle it…I'm sure musclebrain and the others will do the same."

"Very well," Eve whispers softly as she raises her free hand and swipes the hologram away to shut Add up, she gets up and stares quietly at the unconscious soldier she was working on, Chung runs quickly back and forth between stations and notices the Nasod.

"Hey! Will she be alright?"

"She will live, I suppose."

"Ah! Chung! I really need help over here, I don't know where to inject this person! Should it be in the arm or the foot…?" Ara questions the Guardian in confusion while staring cluelessly at the needle in her hand, Chung slaps himself in the face with his right hand and shakes his head.

"That's the wrong needle, Ara. No one here really needs a flu shot…"

_"This is just incredibly painful to watch," _Eun grumbles boredly from Ara's hairpin, watching the entire situation unfold. Ara lowers her head sadly in a sulk.

"S-sorry…I'm really not much of a help, am I?"

_"Nope, in fact you're just as clumsy as you've always been. It looks like I'll have to finish the rest."_

"Huh? You can help, Eun?"

_"Did you forget so soon, Ara? I have a healing ability, how do you think I keep you alive when you're out there, fighting recklessly?"_

"That's awesome! But…why didn't you tell us before…?"

_"Huhuhuhu…what can I say? I like to surprise."_

* * *

"C'mon, let's finish this up quickly! Meteor Shower!" Aisha snaps as a command to her friends as she holds a brown, spell book in her left hand and calls forth numerous meteors from the sky, frying anything below her, Elsword and Rena both nod in agreement and ready their weapons.

"Aisha is right, there's only a few of them left now. I'll just jump ahead now and-" The Elf begins to speak, a small earthquake erupts beneath them as two shadowy figures slowly advance towards them through the rubble and fire of the battlefield, Elsword squints his eyes and tries to make out what the figures are.

"Who is that, is that Raven or Add coming to give us backup…or is it just a bigger demon?" The Knight asks both the Elf and the Mage, Aisha holds her staff close to her worriedly.

"I'm not sure…but I sense a really high amount of magic coming from it, even more than the creatures we were just facing…"

"Magic? No one except for you two use magic, right? It has to be a powerful demon!" Elsword shouts back to his teammates, he raises his Great Sword and darts towards the dark, shadowy figures.

"W-wait! Elsword! You can't just go and attack it!" Rena yells out to the Knight, but the boy had already set off, the red-haired fighter leaps straight up into the air and slashes downwards with his sword at the figures, one of them quickly raises its own sword and just barely counters it. Elsword immediately lands on the ground and lashes out again.

"Take this, foul demon! Sandstorm!" He cries out bravely as a large storm made completely out of sand materializes out of his weapon and hurdles towards the figure with the sword, the two figures are quickly swept off their feet and tumble painfully back to the ground.

A skinny and pale boy with long, black hair and red eyes slowly struggles to get to his feet as he coughs the sand out of his lungs, he shakes his head in order to get some of it out of his hair before glaring smugly at the Knight and his friends.

"Heh, that was quite a violent 'hello', wouldn't you say…?"

"Eh?" Elsword hesitates as his eyes go wide open seeing another red-haired Knight get to her feet, she straightens out her armor and angrily picks up her heavy-looking Claymore of off the ground.

"Is…is that any way…to greet your own sister…_ELSWORD?!_" Elesis growls as the floor beneath her shakes from the sheer pressure emitted from her. She dashes straight towards her younger brother and slams him in the back of the head with her sword, causing Elsword to slowly fall to the ground. Draco tilts his head back and laughs in amusement.

"Oh look…stars…" Elsword mumbles quietly like a child as everything around him spins uncontrollably.

* * *

The demonic, small child giggles happily with delight as she holds the delicate cup of tea and carefully sips it down, Ciel chuckles under his breath and sheathes his Gunblades behind his back as Lu summons her blue throne behind her and calmly rests on it. She turns her head to her servant and smiles in gratitude.

"Thank you very much, Ciel. A nice, delicious cup of tea was exactly what I needed."

"Of course, Lu, I will prepare you tea whenever you may wish…but…"

"Hm? But what? Is there a problem?"

The assassin points slowly at the corpses around them, bodies of the demons torn apart by the Gunblades and claws of the Duo, Ciel scratches the back of his head quietly with a confused smile on his face.

"Must you have tea right now? You know…in the middle of a war zone? The fighting might be over, however…"

"There is never a time which is not suitable for tea, never forget that, Ciel! Though…I suppose you're right in _this _case…the stench of these pathetic creature's blood is putting me off slightly. Oh! Before I forget to ask!"

"What is it?"

"Well, we never destroyed that portal, right?"

"We did not,"

"I was too busy with cutting the creatures open, did you see who broke the portal to pieces?"

"I am pretty sure it was Add,"

"Add?! Are you serious? Just how powerful was his attack? To close such a strong tunnel between the Demon Realm and this world…it must have been the most terrifying attack to be ever seen and-"

"He punched it,"

"…what?"

"He flew up into the sky while we were all busy with the demons below and punched it pretty hard."

"Huh…"

"I do not think we could have pulled it off with our current level of power, he seems to be stronger than us at the moment…"

"Which means we might be falling behind?"

"I do believe so, Lu. However, unless the contract somehow strengthens…we're not getting anymore power."

Lu leaps up from her throne and snaps her fingers angrily, the throne dematerializes behind her as she quickly walks towards the small patch of demons still feeding on a human corpse near them, Ciel puts on a small grin and follows quietly behind her while summoning a heavy, blue blaster into both of his arms.

"We are not weak," Lu mutters furiously and in almost dead-silence, Ciel stands beside her calmly and directs the blue blaster straight at the enemies.

"Indeed, we are not."

_**"Oblivion!"**_


	49. No 44: The Lord Of Dread Is Among Us

**Heyooo~! I'm bringing you the next chapter now, thanks for your patience! C:**

**Ehehehe~ This is kind of a teaser for the next classes that are going to grace us pretty soon, they'll both be here soon! :D**

**Special thanks to DaVIni, Dead Pann, and ThisFandomIsntDead for both following and/or favouriting! Thank you so much, it's wonderful to have ya'll on board for the ride~! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome! C:**

* * *

Cheers, laughter and giggling echo at a high volume throughout the building with drinks and luxurious and expensive food in each fighter's hand. The darkness and coldness of the night outside didn't bother anyone in the slightest, it had been an incredibly difficult day for the group. They were all comfortably seated on their chairs formed into a large circle. Elsword and Elesis were the loudest of the team, laughing and discussing the good memories and other business. Lento walks in with a another tray of treats with a calm and relieved smile on his face.

"I see you are all having fun,"

"Oh, absolutely!" Chung responds happily as he forces down his food, Elesis turns her head to look at the man and smiles gently.

"Why don't you sit down and join us, soldier? You've done plenty of service already, you should take a breather!"

"No, as much as I would like to sit down and catch up with all of you, I cannot. There is still quite a bit of paperwork to finish up back at the office."

"Aw…"

Lento waves a quick goodbye and leaves the house through the front door, the team keep quiet for a moment while wondering why the man was always so busy before going back to what they were doing before, having fun.

Draco was sitting silently on a different-looking chair, keeping a small distance from the circle of chairs. The shivers of frustration and anger spiraling and radiating from inside his body were slowly driving him mad, his targets were right in front of him, just sitting there…

But he knew the risk, and he accepted the fact that only a fool with a death wish would choose to attack at a moment like this. All of these people were exceptional fighters, each one of them probably having around the same amount of power as him. He would have to wait and observe closely, and find the perfect opportunity to take them down. One by one.

He carefully turns his head around and scans the living room in silence, every idiot was here…except for the black-haired girl with the spear and the two fighters that seemed to have demonic powers emitting from both of them. Did the rest of the team know that they were demons? Probably. The thought of such powerful demons living among them made him feel uneasy, he would like to get rid of the Duo first, to make the rest of the job a whole lot easier.

Draco's eyes quickly meet Elesis' as he looks around the room in a daze, the red-haired Knight cheerfully points towards the boy and puts on a friendly grin for everyone.

"Ah! I almost forgot to mention, this is my partner-in-battle. He's a skilled fighter who has had my back in some tough fights, he joined me on my journey to meet you, Elsword."

"Huh? To meet me?" Elsword questions in confusion while raising an eyebrow, Draco senses his human heart skip a beat as he remembers the lie he had told Elesis such a long time ago, the excuse to follow her. He gently gets up from his seat, walks over to the boy and shakes his hand while faking a kind smile.

"Yes, I've heard quite a bit about you. You are an honorable fighter from what I heard, I wanted to at least shake hands once with a hero such as yourself." Draco mutters forcefully, trying his best to resist the urge to rip the stupid boy's head right off his neck. Elesis happily smacks Draco on the back in a friendly fashion and laughs.

"He's not the most social person out there, but he means well!"

"I'm sure he does, it's a pleasure to meet you, Draco!" Rena smiles in the most kindest way possible, Draco slowly brushes his long hair out of his eyes and stares quietly at her, he absolutely _despised _humans in every way…but Elves were fine with him. Elves never had the desire for power, wealth or fame. They were basically a much better version of humans, with nothing but the desire of peace in their hearts. The Elf wouldn't be one of his targets, unless she got in his way with killing the others. A scarred man shoots daggers at him with a powerful glare, Draco notices the man and glares back at him threateningly.

"Where are you from? I cannot place your accent from anywhere." Raven asks the black-haired teen suspiciously, Draco shrugs and returns to his seat calmly.

"Here and there, around and about."

"Are you not going to specify, Draco?"

"Nope,"

"He doesn't like to share things, but he opens up eventually. So, Elsword…I see you're finally wearing the Knight's armor." Elesis grins with pride while looking back to her brother. Elsword senses his face heat up and go red, he smiles sheepishly and scratches the back of his head.

"Heheh, yeah…I've wanted to wear them for a long time now."

"I'm sure you have, but it looks a little small now…doesn't it? We might need to you get you some new armor soon."

Elsword nods carelessly in agreement with the red-haired Knight before leaning back on his chair and continues to read a book in his left hand while giving out a tired yawn, Aisha turns her head to the Knight and squints her eyes.

"Hey…is that one of my spell books?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I kinda borrowed this from your room a few days ago."

Aisha grips her staff angrily and smacks Elsword straight over the head in a harsh manner before forcefully snatching the book back, she slowly begins to skim through it as Elsword rubs the top of his head sadly. The Mage closes the book and stares at the boy, completely dumbfounded.

"W-why did you take one of _my _books? And why were you reading one of my most advanced and difficult spell books to even read? I thought you hated magic!"

"I guess I did before, but I don't really hate it as much. It was super interesting, actually. Especially the summoning parts of the book, just imagine that! Some people can make almost anything out of thin air!"

"You shouldn't care, you don't have any magical abilities…"

Elsword tilts his head to the side and once again raises an eyebrow at her, he lifts his right hand carefully and snaps his fingers, causing a flicker of flames conjure in the middle of his palm. Rena looks quietly at the Knight's hand in awe before smiling normally again.

"That's not too surprising, Elsword has been able to summon fire from his sword from the very beginning, right?" The Elf giggles teasingly to Aisha, the Mage huffs in frustration and shrugs.

"Well, if that's the case, I wouldn't mind letting you borrow some more of my spell books…"

"Eh? Really? You'll let me do something like that?" Elsword smiles in excitement as he leans forward in his chair, Aisha turns her head away and plays boredly with her staff.

"Why not? Just ask me before taking one, it's not that hard."

Add enters the room with a loud bang as he slams the door wide open while making his way into the living room, he growls madly as he punches his the Nasod Dynamos to the floor and steps on it. The rest of the team all stop enjoying their beverages and stare dumbfounded at the man. Add sulks as he wanders over to an empty seat in the circle and lowers his head.

"Graaaah! That El-damned upgrade for the Dynamos just isn't working! How much longer do I have to work on the wretched thing before it decides to operate like it should?!" He screams furiously as he kicks one of the Dynamos while it struggles to get off of the ground again.

"…someone's having a tantrum…" Elsword mutters cheekily to his sister, Add immediately raises his head and hisses.

"Have you got something to say, musclebrain?!"

Elesis places her drink onto the wooden table beside her, turns her head to Add and gives him the kind of glare that sends a shiver of fear down his spine.

"You'd best apologize to my brother for calling him that name, now."

Everyone directs their attention to Add as he stands there quietly, looking back at Elesis with his mouth wide open, ready to throw an insult at her. Draco puts on a satisfied grin as he notices the man's right hand begin to shake nervously. Add slowly closes his mouth again and stares at the floor in embarrassment, almost like a child that had been told off.

"…I'm…s-sorry…" Add mumbles quickly before grabbing a glass off of the table and slurping it down, Eve raises her left eyebrow as she calmly pets Moby in her lap.

"Your lack of bravery is disturbing, that woman was able to easily intimidate you." The Queen whispers quietly for him, Add clenches his fist while glaring at Elesis as she once again puts on her cheerful face and begins to chat and laugh with the team.

"Don't ask me why…but she's the one, out of all of you, that I would like to fight the least." Add whispers back into her ear while constantly pushing his long, white hair out of his eyes, Eve watches him struggle and shakes her head.

"You most definitely need a haircut,"

Raven listens in quietly to his teammates conversation as they continue to laugh and talk, making the night seem almost endless. He stares worriedly at the empty chair to his right as he begins to wonder where the martial artist and the Duo had taken off to.

"…where is Ara and Lu and Ciel?"

Chung finishes his glass and places it down politely on the table in the middle of the circle and puts his finger on his chin in thought.

"Urmm…well…Lu and Ciel are already in their room over there. I think they've already gone to sleep now, and Ara said she needed some fresh air…though I suppose she's been out for some time now…"

"It's not like Ara to leave just like that," Raven points out to the Guardian while putting on a small frown, Chung lowers his head and looks at the floor.

"I'm sure she'll be back soon."

Elesis laughs cheekily as she puts her drink back down on the table and turns her attention over to the scarred man, she stretches out her hand and smiles gently at him.

"By the way, I was quite surprised when I found out that you were in this team. It's a pleasure to meet you, Raven."

"What? How do you know him?" Rena questions as Raven glares silently at the red-haired Knight's hand, thinking about whether or not he wanted to shake it. He eventually shrugs and quickly shakes Elesis' hand and looks back at her.

"I wouldn't know, I have never met you before." He admits as Elesis rubs the back of her head in slight embarrassment, she cocks her head to the side and grins.

"Weeell, it's true that we haven't met, but I've heard plenty about you. You're a high-ranked, respected fighter of Velder, and one of Velder's most strong soldiers! There isn't any way I _wouldn't _hear about you."

"_Was,"_ Raven corrects the Knight's admiration as he turns his head away and quietly stares at a wall, Elesis looks at the man in confusion and ends the handshake.

"Was? Did you quit your role or something? You couldn't have been fired, you're so highly ranked!"

"…I do not wish to talk about that right now."

"Oh…I-I understand…I guess."

Elesis slowly sits back down at her seat and awkwardly clears her throat as everyone else in the room goes completely quiet, she lowers her head and allows her smile to disappear from her face.

"I do not trust them."

"Huh? Who?" Chung responds as he plays with the handle of the Destroyer, the red-haired Knight looks back up at the team and puts on her serious face.

"Those two demons in the other room, I don't trust them at all."

"Why not? They're our teammates, Sis!"

"Because of what they are, silly! I know you might feel like they have your back, but you cannot blind yourself from the fact that they are the enemy."

"By that logic, I am also your enemy then, Elesis." Eve replies quickly in an angry tone, Add cackles quietly under his breath and raises his hands while shrugging his shoulders.

"At least those two of them have a little more brains than those mindless creatures we're fighting against…although, the girl is loud and bothersome…"

"What about Ciel? Apparently, he has some history with Raven." Rena whispers worriedly as she turns her head to the scarred man, he shakes his head reassuringly.

"He gave me some trouble in the past, but I do not hold it against him anymore. He's different from then, he only acts like a puppet now…to that little girl."

Elesis grips the edge of her large Claymore more, gives the team a glare of true determination as she stands back on her fight and allows small flickers of flame dance of the end of her sword.

"I will trust your judgment on both Lu and Ciel, but if I ever feel like their intents are something different from ours...

…**I'll kill them.**

* * *

_"You're pushing yourself quite far tonight, you didn't need to dismiss the night guards and try to fight all of this creatures yourself." _Eun mumbles with a small amount of concern in her soft voice, Ara spits out a mouthful of blood out of her mouth casually as she holds down one of the demons on the ground with her left hand while shoving her spear through the skull of another. She kicks the demon on the ground into the air before dashing towards with determination.

"This is just another method of training for me, Eun. If I want to defeat the demons, I must master my ability to fight them! Dragon Stance Two, Pulling Thrust!" She yells back to her companion as she uses her spear to latch onto several demons before her, the creatures are flung towards Ara and meet their demise as the martial artist finishes them off by slamming them into the ground below, shattering both their skeletons, and the rock beneath them, clouds of dust erupt violently out from the floor from the sheer amount of power from the impact. Ara breathes heavily and pants weakly as she watches the next patch of demons rush to her.

_"I think this training is pushing you too far, Ara Hann. Thoses portals will never stop releasing demons from them, either destroy it or leave this to the soldiers. You can't just keep fighting them."_

"No, this is exactly what I want! I won't destroy the portal just yet, an endless supply of demons is perfect for practice!"

_"Just look at yourself, you're too tired to continue. Leave this be already, let's head back to your friends and try to get some rest, alright?"_

"That's not going to happen! I want to train some more!"

_"Until what point?"_

"Until I can no longer stand! Dragon Stance Three, Eight Trigram Palm! Kyaaah!" Ara screams at the top of her lungs as more demons approach, the martial artist crashes into the chest of the creature and summons a medal that explodes upon impact, the insides of the demon burst out of its black body and flies uselessly into the air, another one next to it cuts through Ara's flesh with its claws while lunging at her. She screams out in agony as blood starts to burst out of her right arm because of the new wound, Eun releases an annoyed sigh as her aura quickly surrounds the martial artist reluctantly.

_"You seem to forget that we are partners, meaning that you should heed my advice every now and then…but…" _Eun suddenly begins to lecture as Ara's hair gradually starts to glow and turn white, her eyes become as red as the blood scattered across the ground, and the wound quickly closes itself up. A smile, not belonging to Ara, makes its way onto her face as the demonic fox takes over the martial artist's body.

_"…I suppose I could have a little bit of fun myself," _Eun laughs happily in delight as her power rips and shreds straight through the flesh of the demons advancing at Ara.

* * *

"What's wrong, Ciel? You've been staring at that mirror for a long time now, your tea is going to go cold!" Lu yells angrily to her servant as she rests comfortably on the wooden chair beneath her, she bites into a Phoru biscuit on her small plate and sips the glass of her tea. Ciel doesn't turn away from the large mirror attached to the wall of their bedroom, he slowly clenches both of his fists and tries his best to keep his tears from rolling down his face.

"L-Lu…remember when that masked man took me away and showed me something…?"

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that! You never told me what he showed you in that world where you said 'was filled with cubes'…you were impossible to convince to share…"

"I saw the end, Lu."

"…the end of what?" Lu asks curiously as she places her glass gently back onto the table and stops her next bite into the biscuit in her hand, she stares at the back of her servant as he refuses to turn around and look at her.

"The end of us, the end of our lives. That masked man simply kept laughing as I watched a vision, I was there…but my body couldn't move."

Lu immediately allows her grin to vanish from her adorable face, she glares at the disturbing assassin and takes in a deep breath before closing both of her eyes.

"What did you see in there?"

"Buildings falling down to the ground from the fire consuming it, hundreds of dead soldiers filling the streets entirely. You're lying on the ground, in the middle of the battlefield…bleeding to death. I'm already dead by your side. A girl with a spear and black hair running to us to help, reaching out anxiously with her hand."

"…so that's why you were acting so strange when we first met Ara." Lu mutters quietly to herself as she stares down at the floor.

"That's what he showed me before opening up another blue portal and chucking me in, sending me back to you."

"Do…do you t-think…what you saw was…real…?" Lu struggles to get out of her voice, Ciel sighs a heavy sigh and places his hands on his hip.

"No, I believed that there was no way that the vision was possible. It did not frighten me."

"Why not?"

"…because in the vision I completely had white hair,"

"Aha! The man must've made a mistake that he didn't notice when making that vision up, right?" Lu laughs in relief as she gets up from her seat and grins happily at her servant, Ciel slowly turns around to look at his master and fails to keep the tears back any longer as Lu's grin drops and the colour in her face fades. Tries roll down her face as well as she stares in disbelief at the front of Ciel's hair. All of the front of the assassin's hair…

…**was as white as snow.**


	50. Author's Quick Update!

**Hello all! Zacaro here, aaaaaand I have a few things to update you on! C:**

**First of all, I haven't really given a proper answer to how long it takes me to write each chapter. Unfortunately that's because some days I'm incredibly busy and other days I have plenty of time, I have no control over it and it bothers me quite a bit ._. Buuut I'll say each new chapter will be released in 6-9 days, it can vary a bit though. You might suddenly find that I release a chapter in only 3 days, so you never know! \\(T~T)/**

**If it will probably take longer than 8-9 days to bring out the next chapter, I will quickly inform you about it. Like right now: the next chapter will take a bit longer than usual to release due to my sister having extreme pain in her left leg, my parents are both working during the day...so guess who has to take care of her... \\(._.)/**

**Don't you worry though! I'll try my best to release the next chapter as soon as possible! C:**

**Also, I've changed the picture of the story to my first attempt at drawing Ciel! Ahh...I'm kind of a terrible drawer...but hey, I tried! C: Perhaps I'll draw Lu in the future, if you guys like it! (^~^)**

**I'll see you beautiful people soon~ 'Till then, this is Zacaro, signing out! C:**


	51. No 45: Let The Trials Of Henir Begin

**Helloooooo~! Do not worry, I'm back! I'm finally back! C:**

**Sorry about such as delay I didn't expect this chapter to take so gosh darn long! D: I promise that it won't be happening any time soon! I've finally gotten everything back in control, so chapters will go back to being released every 6-8 days! C:**

**Thank you so much for your patience~!**

**Special thanks to marine0ak, IlikeTrains4Life and Nagisaa-san for following/favouriting~! You've absolutely made my day! Thank you SO much for your support, it really means a lot to me! C:**

**Note: I'm going to put myself to the test and try to draw Lu now :3 So next week, expect the picture for this story to change to another one of my drawings! I hope you'll like it! **

**(Should I make new drawings every week? Who knows~ I might have a retry on drawing Ciel, I'm not quite happy with what I made.)**

**Now, I truly hope you enjoy this chapter~!**

* * *

Smoke gushes through the streets and explosions erupt far in the distance, cries and yells of unexpected and taken off-guard soldiers echo in the village. Commands are screamed out as the soldiers frantically attempt to avoid the blasts of fire and get to their weapons. Lento leaps swiftly out of a burning building and quickly dusts the dirt off of his shoulders, he shakes his head and gets to his feet to see what the commotion was all about. He slowly steps over one of the dead corpses, ripped apart on the ground, and unsheathes his sword before resting it on his right shoulder. A man with a large speakerphone stands on top of a broken pile of boxes and screams out to the army of men and women at the top of his lungs.

"Two demons have forced their way through the posts and through the main gate and are now inside Velder, show them no mercy! To arms, soldiers! To arms!" The man cries out as he coughs and wheezes weakly through the thick smoke gathering around everyone from the flames raging through and on the hundreds of houses.

"What's going on? All this destruction because of two of the enemy? This shouldn't take too long, I'll just grab my armor and-" Lento mutters quietly to himself through the explosions as he walks towards his tent, a hand slowly places itself on his back…causing him to turn around to see the Commander glaring at him. "Sir…?"

"Do not rush into this battle simply because of their number, Lento. It might not seem like much, however I've received intel that these two demons could both be high-ranked demon commanders themselves. My assistant…" The Commander explains loudly before stepping aside to show the person standing behind him, a young girl with pink hair in a ponytail and black glasses takes a courtesy bow for Lento before going back to staring at the files of paper scrunched up in her arms. "…is currently going through our entire database to try and find more about them."

"What does the enemy look like?" Lento responds with a curious question as he turns his head away and glares at another explosion of fire in the distance.

"One seems to be a dark-skinned Elf, and the other a colossal beast covered with heavy armor." The assistant quickly replies to the soldier without looking up from her stacks of paper before the Commander has a chance to. "…at least that's what the injured soldiers are telling us. These reports must have something similar to that description…"

"We set up a barricade over that wall and through this street, they might've broken through our main gate, but we've stopped them there. Now, Minia…where in the world is the El-Search Party?" The Commander questions as he turns around and raises an eyebrow to his assistant, she readjusts her thick glasses and skims through more pages of paper.

"We've sent men to inform them about what has happened the moment the two demons entered, they should have been here a long time ago."

"What happened? We're holding the invaders down at the main gate, the area the El-Search Party is at hasn't even be attacked! They have no reason not to be here!" The bearded man growls in anger as he shakes his head anxiously.

"How long do you think the barricade will hold those two?" Lento asks as a significantly louder explosion causes a shiver to slither up his spine, the Commander sags his shoulders to show he had no answer and the assistant releases a heavy sigh.

"…considering the fact that they broke through our strongest defense in such a short amount of time, the barricade will only hold them back for a few more minutes before they make their way here, in the centre of Velder."

"And without the El-Search Party for backup and such a low amount of soldiers left…" The Commander mutters quietly as he watches a tower in the distance catch on fire and burn to the ground. "…it looks like we cannot hold onto Velder any longer, we need to retreat."

"We can't do something like that, Sir! The enemy has already gained so much land, if we're to lose Velder-!" Lento begins to protest to the Commander in an attempt to change his mind.

An explosion of fire right next to them cause them all to fly back helplessly as a muscular demon smashes through the wooden wall , that was holding them back, with a smiling Elf resting calmly on his shoulder. The Elf leaps off the demon with elegance as Lento slowly struggles to get back onto his feet, he weakly turns his head and stares at the people he was just talking to. The Commander was coughing quietly as he scrambled to his feet and bolted away, but the assistant had taken the worse from the impact, her stomach had been completely impaled with a wooden pillar from one of the tents close to her. Lento closes his eyes and places his hand gently on her cold forehead and takes in a heavy breath before getting out of his kneeling position and holding his sword confidently in front of him.

"You foul demons, you'll pay dearly for that!"

The dark-skinned Elf tilts her head boredly to the side as she plays with a knife in her left hand and looks down at the corpse with the pink hair.

"What? You mean that woman over there…? Who cares? She's hasn't got any armor on her, she's not even a soldier…what are you so mad about?" she laughs carelessly as the massive demon behind her growls and roars in a rage, the Elf taps her free hand on the beast's leg in a calm fashion. "Settle down now, you'll have your fun in a bit."

"You must be the demon army's generals or something, right? No normal demon could have made its way through the main gate." Lento asks the Elf in order to buy himself a little bit of time as he starts to have doubts about his chances against the walking pile of muscles behind the Elf.

"I suppose some introductions are in order. My name is Chloe, leader of the Dark Elves, and this is my partner. Say hello, Uno Hound." Chloe speaks casually as she turns back around and grins at the massive demon, the Uno Hound grunts a few times before roaring to the sky while beating his fists roughly on his chest. The Dark Elf laughs in amusement from the demon's reaction and smiles with curiosity at the soldier in front of her. "He doesn't usually get this worked up over a soldier, you must be stronger than the other ones we've slaughtered. That's good, this fight might actually entertain me."

"I've heard a lot about the Dark Elves, you've been a nuisance in this war for far too long. I'll take you down here!" Lento growls furiously as he lungs forward at Chloe with his sword gripped firmly in his two hands.

The Uno Hound watches quietly as the soldier swings his weapon multiple times at the Elf, only to see her step back and dodge each attack with an incredibly bored look in her face. She ducks swiftly as Lento stabs his sword forward, unsheathes one of her knives and forces it through his left leg. The soldier cries with agony as he hops backwards with his right leg and stares in horror at the knife wedged deep in his flesh. Chloe simply grins and glances quickly at her partner.

"This won't take long, go and destroy the east side of the city. I'll be sure to destroy whatever is left of this side once I'm done with this human." She giggles as a command, the Uno Hound raises its two, colossal arms and roars angrily before storming off to do as she says.

Lento grits his teeth and tries his best not to shout from the agonizing pain in his kneecap, he slowly and carefully wraps his hand around the knife and pulls it out off his leg, only causing him to cry out even more. He gradually stands back up with an obvious limp as the Elf casually strolls up towards him, she reaches behind her back and takes out a bow that was strapped to it before charging up a magical arrow. Lento rips off a piece of cloth from his sleeve and wraps it around the wound on his leg like a bandage and retains his confident glare.

"Do not think that this battle will be finished so soon, I can take a whole lot more than a simple knife. You have yet to see the true skill of a Velder Knight, that will be your undoing."

"Will it now? Well then, come and show me this potential I've yet to witness…" she smiles calmly as the soldier dashes towards her once again.

"…I'll have fun watching you suffer before you die." She mutters under her breath as she aims her bow and arrow at the bleeding soldier.

* * *

_**This throne is becoming a little uncomfortable…**_

_**It's not like it's a terrible throne, on the contrary in fact, it's a throne for kings. However, even the best throne starts to feel uncomfortable once you've been sitting on it for so long. I just have this unshakable feeling to get up and get something done.**_

_**It's not like I have anything to do though, all of my daily tasks had been executed in a perfect manner a while ago. The continuum seems to be in order, and I'm still seeing a constant flow of humans that wish to challenge themselves here. You would think creating several worlds for fighters to be challenged in would take a lot of energy out of me, and on my first few days on the job, that was the case.**_

_**But now? Now it's as easy as counting to three, being the administrator of this empty world has gradually grown on me…and at the same time…it has began to bore me.**_

_**Do not get me wrong, it's not like I wish to ever leave this…'job' of mine, but I just wish it could still entertain me in a way. This occupation I'm stuck with is my fault to begin with, I'm the reason I'm here right now…cursed to sit here and watch time just flow by…and sometimes watch a few idiots challenge themselves here. **_

_**It's quite strange actually, somehow I know for certainty that I'm the reason I have to be the one to watch over the continuum…but I don't remember what I did to end up like this. The memories are there, but they're…distant. It's like trying to recall the events of a dream you just had a few minutes ago, you know it's there in your memory…but it slips away every time you try to grasp it.**_

_**And that brings up the question: why don't I remember the reason I'm here?**_

_**Was the memory so boring or unimportant that I just naturally forgot it? Or is it because of how long I've been in this world?**_

_**Probably both.**_

_**I wonder how much I can remember right now? Let's think about it. I was trying to obtain something 'absolute' for some reason, then I was punished by a Greater One. Seems pretty straightforward, I was most likely just another greedy human in search for more power.**_

_**I wouldn't be bothered anymore, and the thoughts about my past would have left me forever…if it wasn't for one more vague memory.**_

_**A woman.**_

_**She's…smiling at me, she is young and beautiful. Her hair flows so elegantly through the wind. Who could she be? A girlfriend? A wife?**_

_**Why is she one of the last memories I have left? Is she that important that my memory of her has lasted this long?**_

_**Well, that all happened hundreds of years ago. That 'woman' is already dead and is probably feeding the plants with her dead corpse. I could go back to that time period and find out who she is but…**_

…_**who cares?**_

_**She's just another foolish, ignorant human, I'm sure of it. My humanity left me a long time ago, and it has made me wiser than I have ever been. I feel blessed.**_

_**Still, even a god such as myself needs some entertainment every now and then, right? I know I made that deal with that Add, and so far he's entertained me just as much as he has promised…but the limits of his and his team's power is quickly beginning to show.**_

_**And that makes me bored again.**_

_**I haven't had such a great source of entertainment in centuries, it's like watching my favorite TV show over and over again. They need to become stronger to keep me on the edge as they battle interesting foes. I suppose I could step in and give them an extra boost, just a little.**_

The masked man cackles loudly with anticipation as he leaps out of his blue throne and watches it slowly dematerialize behind him, he opens up a large crack through reality with his right hand and stares as the team quickly rushes to the battlefield.

_**If they reach that beast and the Dark Elf, they'll surely be killed…and it'll be a pain to bring them back to life. I'd better give them a helping hand now.**_

The masked man's thoughts go completely silent momentarily, he closes his eyes and breathes softly behind the cold, black mask as more pictures of Elrios flash through his mind, only to disappear the moment it almost became a clear memory. The man snorts as he finally gives up at attempting to recall anything from the past, he places his skinny hands onto the arms of his throne and slowly gets up from it. He stretches out his legs a little before using them to stand, blood gushes through and flows back into his feet, it was a satisfying sensation to experience.

Blue cubes circle and dance around both his hands and his arms as he releases them from the palm of his right hand, he brushes his black cloak behind his legs as he straightens himself. Fresh air flows through his white, spiked hair as a mirror-like crack materializes in front of him, he could see fire and utter destruction through the portal. The screams of men and women going through agonizing pain was music to the masked man's ears. He grins excitedly behind his mask and cackles happily to himself before closing his eyes and leaping calmly in.

_**They need me.**_

* * *

"Get everything packed up, prepare every weapon you've got, put on your armor and let's get moving!" Raven barks frantically as he picks up his blade from beside the bed in his room and dashes back into the living room. Chung steps quickly out of his bedroom with all of his armor on and the Destroyer in his right hand, he blows his blonde hair out of his eyes and stares anxiously at the scarred man. "We're the only ones ready?! Everyone, hurry up! _This city isn't going to last forever, you know!_"

The Guardian places his left hand firmly onto the man's shoulder and looks directly in his eyes as an attempt to calm him down. "Everyone is almost ready, there's no need to shout at them. We want to save Velder just as much as you do,"

"…I'm sorry that you must see me act this way, but if…if we're to lose Velder…it's always been my home, I don't want it to fall into their hands and-" He begins to stutter as large tears start to swell up in his yellow eyes, Chung shakes his head as the rest of the teammates step out of their rooms and whispers reassuringly to him.

"That will never happen, I promise you."

"Hehe! Let's head off then, I'm guessing from the big explosions that there is going to be some strong demons out there. I've never been so excited!" Elsword the Knight giggles as he grabs hold of his Great Sword and rests it on his right shoulder. The purple-haired Mage behind him flicks through one of the pages of her book and smacks the boy over the head with her staff, not bothering to even look at him as she does so.

"You moron, people are suffering out there! There's absolutely no reason for you to be so happy! Especially now that we have to wake up so early in the morning for this…" She snaps back angrily to the Knight to teach him a lesson, Elsword slowly rubs the top of his head and glares back at her. Elesis laughs quietly under her breath and watches as the two began to argue for no reason at all. Strangely, it was one of the cutest things to observe for her, and it made her wonder if there was any chemistry between the two. She quickly shakes her head to herself and frowns in confusion at the team as the get ready to walk out of the door. "…has anyone seen Draco, Lu or Ciel? Their rooms are empty, where could they be?"

"I have looked around the house in its entirety, they are not present. I would suspect that they woke up before us and are already at the battle field." Eve responds back to the worried Knight, Elesis lowers her head and shakes it anxiously while biting her thumb's nail. Add snaps his fingers and watches as the Nasod Dynamos spring to life behind him as he cackles happily and cracks his knuckles, the crunching noise emitting from his hands causes Rena to cringe slightly.

"Then what the hell are we waiting for? We need to get there immediately, we can't let those three have all the fun."

Ara takes in a deep breath and smiles as the air fills and refreshes her lungs, she taps the hairpin for a second and senses its warmth, the velvety and silky cloth wrapping around her legs and her white clothing was as comfy as it could be. She kicks up her staff on the floor with her foot in an expert-like manner and catches it casually with her left hand as she slides swiftly to the door. "Well, are you sure they cannot handle something like this by themselves? I do not know about your partner, but Lu and Ciel are both extraordinary fighters. Do they need our help?"

"O-of course! Draco is completely full of himself and reckless, and I already told you all that I do not trust the Duo, so we're heading to that fight!" Elesis exclaims firmly back to the martial artist as she lifts her massive Claymore of off the ground and strides confidently to the door as well, Rena puts on a cute face and leans her head closely to the Grand Master's.

"Hmmm~? Or could it just be that you're worried about your…'partner'…?" She giggles softly into the girl's ear, Elesis leaps back and turns red as Elsword tilts his head to the side, utterly confused about what the Elf had whispered to his sister. The Grand Master quickly regains her composure and allows her face to change back to her normal colour.

"D-don't be ridiculous, now let's go already!" She yells back frantically as she places her hand on the door handle as the rest of the team follow slowly behind her, before Elesis could open the door to the outside, however, a bright flashing light from the living room cause them to jump in fright. Furniture is flung carelessly across the room or sucked straight into a large crack, hovering in mid-air.

A tall, skinny man with a glowing right eye and a black cloak with strange patterns steps boredly through the crack and laughs quietly at the gang. He holds out his left hand and allows a blue cube to float next to him.

"I'm afraid none of you are going anywhere, I need you all to come with me for a while. Do not worry, I do not require you for long." The masked man mutters casually to the team, although he sounded so calm about the situation…his voice still somehow sounded like a command to them. Raven is the first to step forward and unsheathe his blade.

"You-! That voice is-!"

"You're the guy who warned us about-!" Elsword suddenly hesitates to speak out as the rest of the team stares at the masked man in awe, the man laughs as the red-haired boy and the scarred man fail to finish their sentences and stares at Add with his one, visible eye.

"Oh dear, this really is lucky of me, isn't it? The ones that have entertained me for so long are also people I've encountered in the past, what a coincidence!" The masked man giggles sarcastically to the team as he happily watches Add glare silently to him and leans his head back calmly. "Oh, and don't worry, Add…our deal is nearly complete. You've entertained to almost your full extent…but that's the reason I'm here right now. I've been watching you all as a nice source of entertainment. You see…I live a very boring life, and the place I live has began to become plain and bland. Seeing you fight and slaughter the demon race though…it's the most fun I've had in years."

"We're your…_entertainment_…?" Chung repeats the masked man's words back at him with a dumbfounded look on his face, Elsword grits his teeth and senses his anger begin to built against the strange man before them.

"Indeed, but that's the problem that has recently arised...you're all too weak to keep me amused. The demons you fight against are consistently getting more and more powerful, while all of you are remaining at a certain level of strength. If you're to continue like that, you'll all end up dead pretty soon."

"Why are you concerned about something like our deaths? Are you worried about our wellbeing…?" Ara questions as she gradually cocks her head over to the side, the masked man lifts his head to the sky and immediately breaks out into a loud laughter, he wraps his hand around his sides and waits as his laughter eventually stops.

"Kukukuku! You honestly think I care about whether or not you survive? Of course not, that's not in the least bit important. The only reason I'm even here to help you is because out of all the fighters I've watched so far, you're all the most fun. If you are to die, then my only source of entertainment is gone! Especially you, Add. You've done extremely well, but our deal is that you have to entertain me at your full power, but I'm guessing that you're all only fighting at perhaps…40% of your maximum potential, and that's no fun…is it? " The masked man informs them all, Add clenches his right hand into a fist and opens his mouth to shout something at the man but is quickly cut off.

"Deal...?" Rena speaks out in shock as she turns her head and stares in disbelief at Add, he lowers his head and refuses to look into the Elf's eyes. He could feel everyone's stares, but he knew the only thing he could do now was stay quiet and pretend as though he didn't know what the masked man was talking about. Eve shrugs as soon as she realizes that Add wasn't about to explain anything, she folds her arms and directs her attention back to the mysterious man.

"How does someone like you plan to 'help' us?"

"I'm glad you asked, Nasod Queen. I'm going to show you all an incredible place where you can quickly bring yourselves up a notch or two, it will be most fascinating."

"You expect us to follow you when Velder is in such a dire situation?! We don't even know who you are!" Raven roars angrily and furiously at the masked man as he points his silver blade right at the masked man's throat, the masked man looks at the blade pointed right at his neck casually and doesn't flinch in the slightest.

"You think I didn't think of that? That's why I teleported both that boy with the long hair and the Duo to the battlefield, they'll take on the demons while you're gone. I can't promise that those three will defeat the demons invading, but they should at least hold them off during the time that you're with me. Seems pretty equal, doesn't it? Draco, Lu and Ciel to protect Velder, and the rest of you to do what I have in mind for you…"

_"We're not going anywhere with you!" _Elesis screeches madly as she darts towards the masked man and slashes her Claymore blindly at him, a bright flashes into everyone's eyes as everything around them goes white.

The El-Search Party all slowly open up their eyes to find themselves in an almost-empty world of blue, portals scattered everywhere through the colossal area of nothingness. Massive versions of the blue cubes in the masked man's hands hover ominously in the distance. Add is the last to open his eyes and stare in utter silence at the new, wondrous. Add turns his head and looks quietly at Eve and the rest of the team.

"Where…are we? What in El's name is this place…?"

The masked man appears out of nowhere and strides excitedly towards them as he snaps his fingers as each member is teleported to a different area of the empty world. The masked man summons a blue throne behind him and sits on it as he begins to prepare enemies for the team to have their fights against.

"I'll be sending Elsword, the Mage and the Elf to my version of Ruben…then I suppose Elesis and Ara can pass their trials in my replica of Bethma…Raven will stay in this world to complete what I've got in store for him…the Guardian can battle in Hamel. That's going to be quite fitting…and finally Add and Eve can complete theirs in Altera. Yes, that's how I'll sort things…

…now, I believe some introductions and explanations are in order. My name is Glave, administrator of this _hell_. This is Henir's Time and Space, the world where I am god. You'll ascend to a new level of power by completing the trials I put before you…

…**or you'll die."**


	52. No 46: Observe a New Level Of Authority!

**Helloooo~! Here's the next chapter, thank you so much for your patience~! C:**

**I've had an attempt at drawing Lu too now, I hope you like it~!**

**Special thanks to JessicaPhilomele for favouriting, you rock! Thank you so much, I'm so excited to have you join us~! Welcome onboard~! *brofist***

**Note: It's the holidays for me now and my flight is pretty soon, and with all the things you have to do when you move to another country...it's going to be busy. I'm not confirming that there will be any drastic delays, but it's a possibility for this week. **

**I really hope you all enjoy~!**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

"I seriously hope that this isn't just _you._" The boy with long, black hair filled with purple strands mutters in a tone of disappointment as he kicks the corpse of a surprisingly-fat soldier out of his way, blood gushes out of the eyeball of the corpse as his shoe comes in contact with it, causing Draco to snicker like a child. The dark-skinned Elf holds out her knife defensively as she hears the boy laugh, she smears a drop of blood onto her forehead and makes a pattern out of it, a Dark Elf tradition was Draco's guess for that. "…you can't be all that there is. When I heard that an elite fighter from the Demon Realm was wreaking havoc, I actually got a little excited…but you don't look all that challenging…"

"That's some impressive ego you've got there, another servant for the Velder Knights?" Chloe giggles back to him in a smug fashion as he slowly steps over the piles of gutted humans, not making any effort to avoid stepping on them. He brushes his annoying hair out of his eyes and hesitates for a moment as one corpse catches his eye, he immediately stops walking and leans in closely to the familiar-looking man.

"Hm? I've seen this guy before. His name was Lento…I believe…" He whispers quietly to himself as he carefully observes the wounds on the soldier's neck, his throat had been cut open…and the flesh and the blood seemed to be quite fresh. Lento had just been killed, he didn't make it to the battlefield in time. Draco closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath which satisfyingly fills his lungs to the brim, he waited quietly to see if he could sense any feeling brewing up inside of him, and sure enough he felt an emotion wash over him as he stares at the dead soldier's face. The dark Elf notices the boy and looks at the corpse he was, a grin crawls on her from cheek to cheek.

"Oh? You know this one? I was only done with him a few minutes ago, you just missed it." She exclaims happily as she looks at Draco's face and noticed the color on it slowly fading, his hands become clenched fists as the Elf goes on. "I was surprised he was even let into the Velder Knights, he didn't last very long…just a few cuts and bruises and he was already on his knees, typical was quite the stubborn one too, I asked him to beg for mercy while I was peeling off the flesh of his arms and he refused. It was _incredibly _annoying, I almost didn't find any enjoyment out of it. Was your friend always that stubborn?"

"He wasn't my friend, in fact I barely knew the guy." Draco retorts quietly as his attention doesn't waver from Lento's corpse, all of the skin on his arms had been completely cut off, the dark Elf wasn't lying. He closes his eyes and senses a frustrated angry creep into him, why was this nobody causing him to feel upset? He had only seen the man for a few seconds when he had introduced himself to the group, Lento wasn't ever someone Draco considered a friend…but he was still an honorable fighter…that must've been the reason this affected him. "…I'm going to rip your heart out and hold it in front of you in your last seconds."

"Is that so? You certainly speak big for someone who isn't even a Velder Knight, perhaps this'll be a little more enjoyable." Chloe laughs as she unsheathes her knife once more and holds her bow confidently with other hand. "Don't cry, you'll join your comrade soon."

Draco raises his right hand and watches as Veryx majestically materializes into the palm of his hand, the red scythe glows brightly and allows frantic flames to dance off its edges, the Elf smiles one last time before creating a purple arrow, made out of magic, and firing it at him. The boy leaps to the left and dodges the arrow effortlessly and dashes straight for his target. The Elf spits angrily on the ground and charges up and releases a larger barrage of arrows, Draco grins as he begins to close in and deflects each arrow one by one.

"Is this supposed to be some kind of joke, you pathetic Elf? I can react at much higher speeds than those slow-ass arrows, Scorching Detonation!" He cackles with delight as a circle of fire burns harshly in his free hand, he leaps up into the sky and punches down at the ground to generate a moving wall of flames. Chloe yelps weakly as she attempts to dodge with a back flip but gets minor burns on her hands and feet, she tosses her purple bow to the side after realizing its uselessness and grips worriedly onto her two knives instead.

"You really want to fight at close range? Fine then, let's see if you can even keep up!" She yells madly to the boy as he lungs forward and slashes aimlessly at the dark Elf, only for each attack to just barely miss her, the Elf giggles as Draco's smile immediately changes to an irritated frown. Chloe jumps to the side after another of Draco's direct slashes and quickly cuts a flesh wound onto his cheek. The boy growls in pain and takes a sudden step back.

"D-Damn it! You're pretty fast on your feet for such a weakling, that actually…hurt…" He mutters in a hiss as he places his hand on the cut located on the left side of his face, he feels the heat and pulse of his blood as it slowly drips into his hand. Draco stomps the ground furiously with his right foot and glares at the Elf with a murderous intent. "_You're going to pay for that!" _

The boy picks up Veryx once more and begins his crazed slashing again, the Elf simply laughs as she dodges each and every attack in the most elegant and relaxed way possible. Every time Draco would show a subtle sign of an opening, the Elf would almost immediately take the opportunity to kick him in the gut with her long legs or cut into another part of his body with her knives. Draco hisses and cries in agony as cuts and scratches continue to quickly appear along his arms and legs, the Dark Elf simply grins as the boy tries helplessly to keep up with her and lands a heavy kick directly into his stomach. He falls back and spits out a mouthful of crimson blood as he stops his slashing and takes a moment to catch his breath, the Elf sees this as her opportunity and lungs towards him.

"That's quite the defeated look on your face, don't tell me that's all you have in you! You barked way more than you could bite!" Chloe states proudly as she goes for a powerful kick at the Draco's skull, the boy grins at the Elf with a smile that sends a shiver down her skinny spine as her foot makes contact with his head.

"I didn't think I'd have to use my trump card on someone like you, _Will of Fire!"_ The boy smiles as a golden aura curls and wraps itself around his body, he doesn't flinch from the kick as it hits him and watches as Chloe screeches wildly as she takes a step back and holds onto her left foot with tears in her eyes.

"Urgghhh! W-what was that?! It felt like I just kicked a statue!" She shrieks angrily as she has a close look at her bruised foot, some of her toes were twisted in the wrong directions and she could feel multiple bones in her foot had been broken, Draco laughs maniacally at the Elf as he slowly strides towards her and swings his scythe in his right hand playfully.

"That's because I _am _a statue right now, so to speak. That is my ultimate ability, with the Will of Fire active, I cannot falter or react to any attacks landed on me. Of course, like any technique out there…there's a weakness to this power…"

"And…and what would that be…?" The dark Elf questions the grinning boy as she grits her teeth and weakly limps backwards to get some distance between them, Draco once again brushes his long hair out of his face and sets his body on fire.

"…The attacks will still do damage on me, and I'll still feel the pain. And you know what? Even though it didn't look like I felt that kick…_it hurt like hell._" He growls as he jumps straight at the weakened Elf and slices off her right and left arm, causing a constant stream of blood to gush out of her and onto his face.

The boy enjoys the heat and overall sensation of an opponent's blood on his face and happily makes more and more cuts onto her, making sure to hold back slightly so that she would die slowly. Chloe gets back up from the ground with her bleeding, shaking legs. Her widened eyes slowly trail to the area where her arms once was, and looked at the floor where her arms laid now. She cries from the unbearable pain and watches helplessly as her blood continues to pump out of her wounds, large tears collect up in her eyes as the boy carelessly wipes off her blood on him and smiles at her. "Can't use your knives when you've got no hands, right?"

"Y-you're…a monster…" She coughs as she backs up into a rough wall, she had nowhere left to run. Draco simply shrugs and takes a brief look at all of the dead corpses surrounding them.

"And you're no saint yourself, we're all labeled as evil in this cruel world…it's all just a matter of perspective. Now, stay still…will you? I don't want to mess up your beheading." He cackles as he raises Veryx up to the sky like an executioner and slices downwards at her neck, her head flings off the rest of her body and rolls along the floor like a football, with a satisfying spray of blood trailing behind it.

Draco commands his scythe to dematerialize as he whistles boredly at the dark Elf that had now just become another useless corpse, he kicks a dead soldier out of his way as he shoves his right hand into his jacket's pocket while playing with one of his purple strands of hair with his other hand.

"That's one down and one more to go, the other demon must be on the other side of this ridiculously-massive place. Hopefully it won't talk as much as the Elf, that would be nice." He laughs amusingly to himself as he watches a distant explosion grow and expand befre bursting into a mix of fire and parts of the buildings around it. "Where's Elesis and her friends, anyway? I don't remember how I even got onto the battlefield…last thing I remember was sleeping in that uncomfortable bed at the El-Search whatever's house. A-Are…are they alright? Not that I actually care or anything! It's just…err…it'll be harder to keep killing without some backup. Yes, that's it. They're all just idiots, there's no way I would ever care about-"

A bright purple light explodes violently behind him, causing him to frantically turn around and observe the strange-looking seal of the ground. The circular seal glows brighter and brighter as it expands and allows something to come out of the ground, something colossal.

"D-damn that Elf! Did she make this seal in case she was defeated?!" He screams to himself as a crowd of newly-released soldiers run straight towards the dark figure emerging from the floor, he turns to see the fools run towards the large beast with their swords in hands, not even aware of what they were about to fight. "No! Stand back, you fools!"

The beast finally crawls completely out of the ground, it roars as soldiers hack at it with their swords and spears and sends them flying with its massive tail. It growls madly at the humans before it and allows a purple laser to burst directly out of its mouth, utterly destroying the street it was on, all of the soldiers caught in it immediately being vaporized. Draco rolls quickly to the side and barely gets out of the laser's trajectory and summons his scythe back into his hand.

"I have no idea what the hell _you're _supposed to be, but you're definitely not an ordinary demon…" Draco mutters quietly to himself as the giant beast charges straight towards him.

* * *

"Ciel, do you have any idea where we are?" Lu mumbles in a quiet voice as she slowly gets up from the rough, bumpy ground beneath her in a daze, she felt extremely dizzy and nauseous. Ciel gets to his feet faster and helps her up before shaking his head with a confused frown on his face.

"I'm afraid I'm not entirely sure, but it seems we're somewhere in the centre of Velder."

"What? But we were at the outskirts with the others just a moment ago! What happened?!" She questions angrily as she becomes startled from the sound of a nearby explosion, the assassin shrugs his shoulders and begins to wipe off the dust on his jacket.

"Your guess seems to be as good as mine at this point, perhaps another strange event caused by the contract?"

"Nope, that's not possible. Our contract has nothing to do with _teleportation." _Lu sighs back in irritation, as though she expected her servant to already know this. A soldier walks up to the Duo with his sword rested by his side and raises his eyebrow as he notices them.

"Oi! You there! You're part of that team that Lento brought here, right? The El-Search Party?" The soldier asks the two with what seemed to be a strong, Scottish accent. Ciel nods to Lu to let her know he could handle this and smiles calmly at the soldier.

"Indeed we are,"

"Alright, good…but you're pretty El-damned late for the party, you know. Two of our barricades have already been destroyed." The soldier informs the two fighters in a tired cough as he struggles to get the large amount of dust out of his lungs, the wheezy cough causes Lu to cringe. "Hey, where are the rest of you? The report said there were ten members of the El-Search Party…"

The assassin stares at the large, wooden, man-made wall behind the soldier as a bashing noise emits from it. It begins to shake and crack before exploding into pieces as a muscular demon rams its small head straight into it, the assassin sighs and quickly unsheathes his Gunblades as the tough-acting soldier's face goes pale, the man takes one look at the demon breaking through the barricade before bolting. Lu glares at the helpless soldier as he retreats like a coward and senses a powerful feeling of disgust as she summons her demonic claws around her small hands.

"Geez, can you believe these people? No wonder the Velder Knights are currently on the losing side…they're all a bunch of scaredy cats! Ciel! I hope I never see you act that way!"

"Of course not, I would never do that. However, before we go ahead and fight this thing, what do you know about it?"

"Hmph! That thing is the Uno Hound, he's kinda just a pushover, he won't be much trouble if we concentrate."

"…what about his friends?"

"Huh?" Lu replies back simply with a confused look on her face before noticing the crowd of demons, about half the size of the Uno Hound, following ominously behind the giant beast. Her shoulders slowly shag as Ciel points his Gunblades forward. "Oh, come on! That's practically a mini-army out there! Just what kind of portal brought these many creatures?!"

"I'm afraid we're going to be overwhelmed like this, and I'm not even sure if I'm in condition to fight like this." Ciel sighs back worriedly as he feels the white hair on his head, it had made its way across the right side of all of his hair. "I don't know what this change is about, but I'm not sure if I want to find out either."

"So what? Do you want us to run away like these pitiful soldiers?"

"It doesn't look like we have much of a choice. You said it yourself, that's an army out there."

"Urgh, I _seriously _didn't want to have to use this…but I suppose I have to…"

"Lu…?"

The Demon Lord brushes boredly and irritatedly past the quiet assassin and closes her eyes as she gradually begins to hover up in the air. The hoard of demons close in on them, getting far too close for comfort, the assassin holds out his Gunblades defensively. "Lu, just what are you planning on doing?!"

"I'm going to go all out on them, you might want to stand back." She mutters to Ciel as a command as blue lightning sparks rapidly around her, a bright light wraps itself around the small girl and eventually becomes blinding to the assassin, he takes a quick leap backwards and watches in awe as the girl's body begins to grow in front of his own eyes.

The horns on her small head expands and points upwards in a threatening manner, her hoodie and casual clothing glow and slowly transform into an elegant, exquisite and majestic blue dress. A confident and smug grin spreads across her face as she stares at the pack of demons racing towards her with her different-looking eyes. **[Noblesse Attire]**

"Just sit back and observe how much power I've acquired thanks to you, Ciel." She giggles softly while turning her head to the assassin and winking cheekily at him before pointing her right hand and allowing a gate to form above her enemies. "Shadow Bolt."

The smug smile on the Demon simply grows as she enjoys the sight of the gate firing down endless and explosive spears, insides fly frantically out of the collisions and drop down near the speechless Ciel's feet. Lu bursts out with laughter as the Uno Hound resists the pain of the spears dropping down on it and growls before charging at her, the girl holds out her right hand again and tilts her head to the side.

"You're persistant, I'll give you that. You could have been an interesting servant but, unfortunately for you, Ciel isn't easily replaceable. Now perish. Spectral Spear!" She cackles in a fashion that Ciel had never witnessed before, she grins as two large spears materializes in front of her before blasting straight towards the beast. The first spear slices the Uno Hound's chest and carves a giant line through it while the second ends it by going clean through its skull. The colossal demon stumbles weakly to the ground and causes a powerful 'bang' as it makes contact with the ground. Ciel slowly steps towards it and kicks its left shoulder and sighs restlessly.

"It's…dead…"

"Yeah? So? I told you he's a pushover, now prepare me some tea. I've gotten incredibly thirsty."

"You…never told me…that you gained this much power." Ciel responds quietly as he sheathes his Gunblades behind his back, unable to drop the subject that easily. Lu huffs a heavy sigh and shrugs her skinny shoulders.

"I was planning to make it a surprise and show it to you at the right time, but I suppose the secrets out now…oh well."

"You look different," He mutters with widened eyes as he slowly steps towards her, Lu smiles cutely at him and raises an eyebrow. She flicks her dress around and holds her crown with her right hand and feels her longer horns with the other.

"Do you like the new look?"

"I suppose it's-"

The ground beneath the two of them begins to shake crazily, causing them both to struggle to balance. The Demon Lord stares at a distant explosion to their right and gasps with utter shock, a large creature smashes a building near it with its massive tail and screeches as large balls of fire crash against its head, Ciel summons his cross-shaped blaster into his right hand instinctively and looks back at his master. "Any idea what demon _that _is?"

"That's the Dark Nephilim…" She whispers weakly in disbelief back to her servant, Ciel and Lu both slowly begin to make run towards the large demon in the distance.

"Is it a serious threat?"

"Are you kidding?! That thing is basically worshipped as a god by the Dark Elves, it won't just destroy Velder if it's allowed to continue on its rampage!"

Ciel gradually starts to build up speed as they race towards the beast as it struggles with a small figure colliding with it, an ally? They were still too far away to make out who the person is, the assassin slowly lowers his head after considering Lu's words and smiles secretly.

_'Good. I'll push myself to the limit and kill this creature to keep up with your new level of power, Lu.'_ Ciel speaks to himself in his head as he feels a burning sensation on the white side of his hair.


	53. No 47: The Ultimate Terror Arises

**Hello~! Here's the next chapter for you, thanks for your patience!**

**Note: I've been able to confirm that I'll be on a flight in two days from now, so the next chapter is going to be delayed for this week. I'll probably have to have a one week break as it will take a little bit of time to settle down there. I'll still be posting chapters regularly while on my holidays, rest assured! I'll have the next chapter out as soon as possible~!**

**Special thanks to SolarCorona for following, favouriting and reviewing! You're super awesome and you rock~! I'm seriously glad to know that you enjoyed, welcome to the family~! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~!**

* * *

"It's about damn time you got here," Draco chuckles weakly as a few drops of blood in his mouth slide down his chin, tainted his skin in a crimson colour. His hand shakes in a rapid shiver as he wraps it around his chest, the pain of feeling his ribcage being broken was absolutely excruciating, causing to pant and wheeze as Ciel runs up to him and helps him to his feet. "…where are the others?"

"We do not know, we suddenly appeared here without any memory of how it happened." The assassin mutters quietly as he turns his head to the beast in front of them, it was busy with a brave group of soldiers attacking it. Men and women are tossed up into the air and are either stomped on by the Dark Nephilim or swallowed whole by it. Lu snaps her fingers and watches as small balls of dark flames circle around here, the same dark flames surround the assassin as he looks back at his master. "Thank you, this'll help."

"This is my new and improved 'Flame of the Devil' technique, it will shield you as well now, so use it wisely!" She barks back as a command as she directs her attention to the injured boy with black and purple hair. "You look familiar, weren't you the partner of that Knight that joined the group? Your name was Dragon or something, right?"

"It's _Draco," _He hisses irritatedly as he straightens his black jacket and hair, he summons Veryx back into his right hand and eyes the Duo curiously. "So you were teleported here too, huh? Looks like it's just the three of us though, did the rest of the team just flee Velder?"

"I highly doubt that, they can be quite strange at time but they are not cowards. My best guess is that they were teleported too, just not to this location. Whatever the case may be, however, we need to focus at the danger coming towards us." Ciel responds as a warning as the Dark Nephilim crushes the last few soldiers under its massive foot, Draco chuckles and rests his scythe on his right shoulder.

"Yeah, I was able to have a little bit of a break after it spotted a couple of soldiers to kill. I lied down still and acted dead so that I could tend to the wounds it gave me. Unfortunately…" Draco informs the Duo as he takes his hand off of his stomach and shows the hole in his shirt and the wound underneath. Lu cringes as she has a glance at the fleshy hole in him, Ciel shakes his head slowly as he unsheathes his Gunblades.

"Perhaps you should just leave this to us, it doesn't seem like you're in a good condition to fight."

"Nah, you don't need to worry about me. This wound only stings a little, I'm still capable of slaughtering this thing…whatever it is."

"That _thing_ is the Dark Nephilim," Lu corrects him in a cheeky manner as she allows large, demonic claws to materialize around her small hands, Draco raises his eyebrow as he takes a better look at the girl and frowns.

"You look different, like you're older." He replies slowly as his eyes are also caught by the half-white hair on Ciel's head, a grin spreads along his face and he chuckles. "And you look like you decided to dye your hair but changed your mind halfway through, what gives?"

"It's a long story, and not one we need to care about right now! Shadow Bolt!" Lu growls as she raises her right hand into front of her and opens up a portal that fires down explosive arrows onto the Dark Nephilim to stop it from getting any closer to the three of them, Ciel dashes forward and begins to rapidly hack and slash at the demon's eyeless face. Draco watches as flames flicker off his bleeding body and laughs excitedly.

"We're going to have to go all out against this thing, _Wildfire Barrage!_" He cackles enthusiastically as several spheres grow behind his back before rocketing into the beast's chest, the demon growls and hisses as they expand into a violent explosion on contact. Lu giggles as she leaps away from a powerful swipe of the arm of the Dark Nephilim and holds out both of her small hands.

"Swift Smash!" She cries out as she allows an afterimage of spirits detonate around her, the Nephilim screeches and takes a quick step backwards before opening its mouth and releasing a large stream of demonic energy. Ciel quickly and swiftly leaps in front of Lu and summons a blue, cross-shaped blaster into his left hand.

"You need to watch yourself, Lu. Twilight Judgment." The assassin exclaims worriedly to his master as he fires a heavily-compressed bullet at the Nephilim's head after holding Lu's hand and jumping out of the attack. Lu's eyes widen as Ciel releases another bullet of the same amount of energy at the beast before it could recover from the previous one, Ciel pants heavily as the blaster quickly absorbs all of the magic inside him. "There…I've made an opening…attack it now!"

"R-right! Draco, go for the head!" Lu screams through the loud stomps of the furious Nephilim as she watches Ciel drop to his knees, she glares madly at the beast as she flies straight towards it as it tries to recover. Draco gets to the demon first and slashes at its forehead multiple times before being smacked away by it, the boy yelps as the force of being it by one of its feet causes him to crash into a nearby building.

Lu follows up with Draco's attack and punches and scratches the beast's face in hopes of it falling to the ground, the Nephilim roars and uses it colossal head to hit the hovering girl and send her flying in the opposite direction, she yells out weakly as she rolls helplessly across the floor. Ciel coughs as he stabs his right Gunblade into the ground and uses it to get himself back to his feet, he dashes frantically towards his master and holds her up as she shows her pained face to him.

"I...I told you, Ciel. That demon is not like any other creature we've fought so far…the Nephilim's power far exceeds ours…we should get Draco and retreat! Velder doesn't stand a chance now."

The assassin shakes his head in refusal to his master's suggestion and stares back at Draco as he distracts the Dark Nephilim with a barrage of fire blasts and gets smashed back into another wall by the demon's tail, Ciel opens up the palm of his left hand and watches as his cross-shaped blaster disappears. Lu notices the blaster dematerialize and gives her servant a confused look.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that to happen down, so many soldiers have died trying to protect this place. The dead can't continue strive to achieve their righteous goals, it's up to the living to achieve it for them. Besides…" Ciel whispers back with a calm and relaxed smile to the Demon Lord behind him, Lu stares quietly with widened eyes as the assassin turns around and gives her a determined grin. "…I've been relying far too much on the power of my demonic side. This energy blaster will not win all of our battles, I need to use some of my own strength as well. In order to truly protect and serve you…"

**"…I'll go back to the days where I was as sharp as a blade."**

A glowing, radiate light brushes through the assassin's hair as he rushes forwards to the colossal demon and holds his Gunblades confidently in his two hands, his hair bathes in a bright glow before becoming all white except for a single strand of black hair. His clothing and jacket both glow next before merging with the light dancing around him and transforming. **[Dreadlord Attire]**

"Wha-" Lu manages to gasp as the assassin jumps into the air and cuts into the skull of the Dark Nephilim in a spiraling pattern with his different-looking Gunblades, Ciel growls and screams at the top of his lungs as the Nephilim shakes its head around in hopes of throwing the assassin off. The assassin quickly loses his balance and falls off the demon but immediately begins to run towards it again the moment he reached the ground.

_'My body feels so…powerful. My heart is beating so fast and strongly in me, it feels like it will burst out of my chest at any second. It's like my entire body is moving on its own, dodging past this demon's attacks with ease. What is happening to me? Is this my__** power? **__Or is this the contract lending me a hand…? Well…either way, I've been blessed with this incredible power for now…__**so I'll use it to its full extent!**__' _The assassin speaks to himself in his mind, he rolls swiftly to the right as the Dark Nephilim fires another purple laser out of its mouth. Ciel catches Draco as he falls to the ground and tosses him back up in the air again before leaping onto the head of the demon as well.

"What the hell? How did you just throw me?!" Draco questions with his mouth wide open as they both land on the Nephilim, Ciel ignores the boy's confused question and starts to dig into the beast's head with his Gunblades.

"No time for questions, Draco! Cut into its head with everything you've got, I'll land back down and take out its legs!" The assassin roars loudly to the fighter as he grabs his Gunblades again and jumps off the demon's head, he reaches the ground and darts towards the beast's massive leg. Draco stares blankly for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders and raising Veryx.

"I seriously hope you know what you're doing, _graaaah!_" He shrieks as he slices through the skin at the area of the head where the Dark Nephilim's eyes should be, Lu brushes off the dust on her blue, majestic dress and smiles as Ciel begins to slash at the beast's feet.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you? I've never seen you move like that! You weren't kidding when you said you were going to catch up with me, huhuhuhu!"

The assassin raises his Gunblades and immediately begins attacking the Nephilim's legs as he slides across the floor, attempting to not get squashed like a bug by its large feet. He spins a frantic spiral and hacks at the four feet in front of him like a violent tornado, a cry of pain bursts out of his mouth as the Nephilim kicks him away with one of the feet Ciel didn't have enough time to hit. He rolls along the rough, bumpy ground and stops himself by digging the nails of his right hand directly into the solid earth beneath him, the stinging of the bleeding deep in his fingertips fade almost instantly as the surging energy beating in the assassin's chest only gets stronger.

"I…I have to go faster…_Dancing Blade!_" Ciel whispers to himself quietly as he runs right back to the Nephilim's legs and becomes a complete blur to Lu's watching eyes, several deep cuts appear on the beast's feet in a flash. The Dark Nephilim hisses and shrieks as the agony between the cuts on its legs and the constant slicing by Draco's scythe on its head, it opens its massive mouth and roars as loudly as it can, the force of the roar causes the buildings around to crumble and break while Draco and Lu are thrown backwards. "This is our chance! Lu, quickly…we'll fire everything we have into its mouth!"

"Ha! That can work, we'll just blow up its insides!" Lu giggles excitedly as she gets up before the tired and injured Draco does and flies elegantly behind the sprinting servant, she holds up both of her hands and puts on her familiar, smug grin. Ciel opens his own mouth and breathes in all the air his lungs can possibly handle and focuses on the swelling-up energy within him as he points his Gunblades and fires at the same his master does.

_"Eschaton!" _The Duo scream in a rushed sync as they blast a large, blue arrow of energy from the Underworld and watch it propel into the open beast's mouth, the Dark Nephilim closes its mouth right after the blast enters its body and roars one final time before its body slowly begins to expand like a balloon being filled with too much water. Ciel's eyes widen as he quickly sheathes his Gunblades and catches Lu as she falls elegantly into his arms.

"That Nephilim is going to explode, we need to get out of her…_now._" He warns his master with a firm, unemotional face as he folds his master embarrassingly in one arm and runs towards the fallen Draco and picks it up with another.

A massive explosion expands furiously behind them as Ciel runs as fast as he can with his allies in his arms, he has a quick glance at the master in his left arm and chuckles as her face was absolutely terrified by the blast happened directly behind them, the assassin makes a sharp turn to the right and hides behind a building that is intact and closes his eyes as the last of the explosion erupts from behind the corner. The dust eventually and gradually settles, causing Ciel to stop holding his breath and slump weakly against the wall he was hiding behind. He looks back down at his arms, Draco had completely passed out, and Lu was glaring daggers at him, Ciel immediately loses his relaxed smile as his eyes meet hers.

"Let. Me. Down." Lu hisses in a harsh tone as a command to the assassin, Ciel slowly nods his head and lets go of his master. She quickly starts wiping the dirt and dust off of her exquisite and divine dress, she straightens her crown and feels her hair with both of her hands. "Look at just what you've done! My dress and hair is all a complete mess now, all thanks to your recklessness, Ciel! Next time…warn me before doing something as crazy as that…got it?!"

Ciel opens his mouth to whimper and protest to his master as her angry expression doesn't fade, but he fails to form a sentence of apology. He simply lowers his head, chuckles and shakes his head as he places his left hand softly on his own chest. His heartbeat had never reach this kind of speed in his life, a triumphant grin spreads along his face as he closes his eyes and sighs happily.

"I feel so different,"

"…You also look a lot different too, dummy. Your hair…clothes…even your height…geez, and I thought _I _had changed the most out of all of us!"

"What is your opinion on it? Do you think you'll ever get used to this…new me?" Ciel mutters worriedly to himself as he brushes through his white hair with his other hand, Lu loses her frustrated look and slowly wanders towards the slightly-anxious assassin. She places her hand her small hand onto his chest and looks directly into his eyes with her smug smile, Ciel immediately begins to blush heavily as the eye contact made his heart beat even faster, if that was even possible.

"Don't worry about something as trivial as that. You're the silly, helpful and sweet Ciel I depend on…no matter what you look like~!"

* * *

"This is highly irritating…" Add complains in an angry huff as he snaps his fingers to command the Nasod Dynamos to hover obediently behind him, Eve twirls Moby in her left hand and gives the boy a blank stare.

"We have been wandering for an estimated time of ten minutes, surely the Dynamos have figured out our location." She responds as she strides majestically beside him, Add cracks his knuckles slowly and shakes his head.

"The pieces of empty scrap haven't been able to give me any kind of clear answer, the scan conducted on our environment is somewhere in the junkyards of Altera…but it says that something is off about fabric of space around us. Just what the hell does that even mean, anyway?!"

"That masked man told us something about a trial before we appeared here, perhaps we just need to wait and see what it is he wants from us."

Add sighs and scratches the back of his head boredly as he kicks a couple of pebbles next to him and rests himself on a seat formed by the Nasod Dyanmos, Eve flicks her wrist to command Moby and Remy to expand before sitting on them as well. Eve stares quietly at the ground as Add places his hand on his forehead as though in deep thought. Her soft, gentle, yellow eyes meet his piercing, crazed and purple ones as they secretly glance at each other.

They both widen their eyes the moment their eyes meet each other's and quickly their head the other way. Eve holds Remy kindly in her left hand and begins to stroke it while Add plays with his skinny thumbs and sighs again, he raises his head again and eventually observes the broken-down Nasods lying on the ground around them. Eve notices where Add's attention is and looks at the destroyed Nasods as well.

"Just what in El's name happened here, huh? I know that after the war between humans and the Nasods, the Nasods went extinct or were ripped apart for their advanced technology…I didn't know they had their own cemetery here."

"Why don't you get to work and rip the corpses apart yourself...? You're obviously interested in researching and exploiting us, so what's stopping you from beginning your 'experiments' right now?" Eve mutters in a harsh hiss as she doesn't take her eyes off of the dead Nasods around her. She had tried her absolute best to not show sadness or weakness in front of Add when she first spotted her race scattered like rubbish across the land, but his words had finally broken through her. She glares back at Add as large tears start to gather in her eyes, Add stares at the crying Nasod while completely dumbfounded.

"W-what are…what are you doing…?"

"Nothing, my emotional circuits seemed to have temporally malfunctioned. I have it under control now," Eve whispers weakly as she immediately rubs her eyes with her fragile-looking hands, Moby and Remy rush quickly to her side and hug their Queen worriedly. Add watches the situation silently, his right hand begins to shake and shiver strangely.

"You can't just pretend like that didn't happen, you just c-cried." He speaks back with utter shock spread across his face, Eve instantly felt another rush of emotions rush through her as she observes the boy's surprised expression. She hadn't expected that kind of expression to be on him, his crazed smile was on his face at almost all times. She finally finishes wiping away whatever tears were left on her cheeks, she stares at the boy with her concerned glare.

"What is wrong, Add? You honestly look like you've seen something terrifying."

Add shakes his head quickly and wipes the surprised expression off of his face almost immediately, he puts on his regular grin and cackles instead.

"Nah, it's nothing too important. It's just that I didn't expect a Nasod to even be capable of crying, this is most intriguing. Some Nasods can almost replicate humanly emotion perfectly, I'll have to write that down somewhere soon." Add laughs maniacally to the Nasod Queen as he turns his head and stares at the standing piece of metal next to where he was sitting, he raises his left eyebrow and stares at the piece of machinery with interest. "Hmm, this scrap metal seems to have a button on it…"

"Oh? You are correct, that is a button. Why does it interest you?"

"Why?! Just look at it, Eve! It's a big, red button just sitting there. Doesn't it catch your eye?"

"No, it does not. Do not touch it."

"Oh, Eve…you truly do make some silly mistakes sometimes, you know that?"

"Why do you say that?"

"It's something called a phenomenon in a human's mentality, when you tell someone to not do something…they get this powerful urge to do it…and with such big button just sitting there…I want to touch it."

"Add, I am being very serious with you. We should be very wary, especially at a moment like this. Do _not _touch that button."

"Oh, come on! Can we really go the rest of our lives not knowing what the button does?"

"Don't do it,"

"I think I'm going to do it," He giggles excitedly like a little child as he slowly moves his index finger towards the button resting on the large piece of metal, Eve quickly steps forward and extends her arm out.

"Don't-!"

Add cackles happily as his finger presses the red button before the Nasod Queen could stop him, he howls with laughter as Eve folds her arms and glares furiously at him. He shakes his hands at her reassuringly as his smug simply does not fade.

"See? It was just a harmless, little button that sparked my curiosity. Did you see yourself? You seriously thought that-" Add continues to laugh jokingly to the Nasod, the movement of something around them immediately causing Add to shut up. Green, slime-like substances covering the motionless Nasods slowly begin to slide around and dig its way into the centre of the broken Nasods, the robots gradually struggle onto their feet, which had fallen terribly into disrepair.

Add's mouth slowly drops as the Nasods carefully begin to come back to life in front of their own eyes, Eve places her hand quietly over her mouth and she senses Moby and Remy shiver cowardly behind her. The Nasod Queen's horrified expression quickly replaces itself with an annoyed glare, directed straightly at Add.

"If we are to make it through this, I'm going to slap you so hard…you'll be decapitated from the sheer force of it.

_**"Kekekeke! Oh dear, it looks like you've set off the trial I planned for you by yourselves! Well, good luck! Try not to die too quickly, will you?" **_The masked man's voice echoes through the skies with no sign of him anywhere.

Add watches the mindless, reborn Nasods slowly close in on them and grins stupidly as he lowers his head.

"Well…shit."


	54. No 48: Unleashing The Fist

**Hellooooo~! It's me again, I'm not dead I swear! Q.Q It's just been difficult to get the next chapter out due to constant travelling and writer's block (._.)**

**Am I happy that I finally got this chapter out? Of course I am!**

**Do I hate myself for taking so long? Absolutely.**

**Special thanks to Canum Venaticorum, Lovino and Feliciano and Blackrosewizard25 for following and favouriting! You seriously rock! It's so awesome to have you on board, thank you so much~!**

**Feedback is always** **welcome~!**

* * *

"Where is this place?" The scarred, confused man mutters as a whisper to himself, his legs felt extremely heavy, almost like they were made out of titanium. He slowly rubs the top of his head with his right hand and coughs as he notices the stinging pain in his chest.

He takes a couple of seconds to observe his surroundings and understand the situation, from what he understood he was currently standing on a colossal, blue cube. A giant-sized version of the one Raven had seen the masked man carry with him. All around him, besides absolute emptiness, was other large cubes in the distance.

He didn't know what kind of world he had been plunged into now, and that thought frightened him, especially since none of his allies were there with him. Raven clenches his Nasod Arm and gasps as the burning sensation emitting from it suddenly returns, his robotic arm had given him constant pain for the past few days, but definitely not to this degree.

"Enjoying the view? I certainly am." The masked man speaks in calm, monotone voice as he hovers casually onto the giant cube with Raven after stepping out of blue, mirror-like crack that quickly materialized before the scarred man's eyes. He plays around with the familiar-looking, miniature cubes in his left hand as he strides forward. Raven notices that the masked man and himself were relatively the same height, now that he had the time to get a better look at him, and their eyes were almost exactly the same too. The identity of the man behind the mask had begun to make Raven curious, especially about the origins of the strange man's powers. He closes his eyes and rubs them before standing up straight to glare at the mysterious person.

"How long have I been out? Where have you taken me?"

"How long, huh…? That's quite difficult to say, you've been unconscious for some time now. I would say…two years?" Glave the masked man mutters in deep thought as he places the fingers of his right hand onto his chin, Raven's eyes widen and he senses his heart suddenly skip a beat as the feeling of shock washes over him.

"What the hell do you mean?! How could I have been unconscious for that long?!"

"Well, I _did _throw you into an entirely different dimension with no warning, that can take a toll on you. But calm down, time doesn't mean a single thing here. In this place, not even a second has passed."

"What…?"

"As for the answer to your second question, you're currently in the time-space continuum, where the fabric of time flows in whatever way it wants to. However, there's a whole lot more to it than that, it's just kind of hard to explain to someone as thick-headed as you." Glave chuckles as he allows his blue cubes to twirl around his fingers, Raven ignores the sudden insult and raises his eyebrow.

"You brought me here for a reason, didn't you?"

"Uh…duh?" The masked man sighs quickly as he holds out his hand and points at Raven's Nasod Arm with his index finger, Raven takes a sudden look at his arm and frowns.

"Don't tell me, you want this arm back? Or are you just planning on killing me for defying you earlier?"

"Neither, actually. I don't have any kind of business with your arm, and I'm completely over your betrayal. Not anyone can stay loyal forever."

Raven steps forward to the masked man threateningly and glares daggers at him as he places his human hand onto his sheathed blade.

"Then why am I here?"

Glave stares menacingly back at Raven with his deadly, frightening eye. His heavy breathing was impossible to not hear as he laughed quietly and slowly behind his mask. Raven gradually wraps his fingers around his blade as Glave walked daringly closer to him.

"I thought I had already explained that to you, Raven. You're here because I don't want you to die just yet, so I'm making you stronger."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"You've been resisting the incredible power of that arm for far too long, it's time to unleash the beast within, wouldn't you say?"

"No way, I'm not letting that happen. I will not through away my honor for more strength, this blade is all I need." Raven growls angrily as he finally unsheathes his weapon and holds it out to Glave, ready to trade blows with him.

Glave simply snickers like a child and stares curiously at the silver blade that was now only inches away from the mask on his face. Instead of backing away, the masked man does the exact opposite and leans in, allowing the tip of the sharp blade to press against his cold mask.

"You might act all tall and mighty with me, Raven. But I know that your willpower is little to nothing, that arm has briefly taken over you many times and is the cause of your nightmares, right? I've watched you suffer because of your meaningless resistance against your Nasod Arm, I have never seen anyone bother to fight the urge for more power, and seeing _you _do that…irritates me. I'm going to put a stop to that now."

"Don't underestimate me, Glave! Sonic Blade!" Raven hisses madly as he darts forward without warning and slashes clean through Glave's chest, causing crimson red blood to burst out of him.

The masked man simply giggles happily as he takes a causal look at his wounds, he snaps his fingers and allows the ripped-open flesh on his chest to close and snap back to together, the cuts in his cloak also change back to normal in front of Raven's eyes.

"Ouch, that sort of stung. Could you please stand still and not do that again? Regenerating my skin is such a drag." Glave exclaims in an annoyed tone as he brushes his black cloak with his right hand before staring back at the Blade Master boredly. Raven grits his teeth and senses some kind of fury building up inside him.

"You can quickly heal your wounds?" Raven gasps worriedly as he slides across the floor before eventually coming to a halt, Glave laughs and nods his head smugly to him. The blade master sighs and raises his weapon confidently again. "Then my best shot is not give you any time to do that,"

"That's an interesting theory, care to try it?"

"Tsk, don't mock me. Wolf Fang!" Raven cries out as he leaps into the air and rockets down at the masked man with his blade spiraling uncontrollably, Glave whistles to show he's impressed before quickly grabbing his leg and tossing him into the ground head-first. The scarred man coughs with agony as he slowly gets back up onto his feet. "You were able to intercept me…even when I was moving that fast…"

"It wasn't that hard to counter you, but don't beat yourself up over it. There's nothing wrong with your speed, it's just that there's no real force behind it. You have to use the _force_, Luke." Glave giggles as he changes his voice to resemble or imitate someone else, Raven simply raises his right eyebrow and tilts his head to the side in confusion. The masked man notices Raven's expression and lowers his head in disappointment. "Oh…right…wrong universe." He sighs sadly.

"You're not even making sense half of the time, Glave. Are you just going to toy with me, or are you going to actually fight?"

"Fight? I'm pretty sure I don't want to do that, I have no interest in killing you at a time like this. But you're right, I should do what I brought you here for now. Sorry in advance if this hurts, it probably will." The masked man mutters quietly as he teleports right next to Raven and places a firm grip on his Nasod Arm.

**"**_**Let's accelerate that mutating process in your arm, shall we?"**_

Raven shrieks and screams in utter, agonizing pain as his arm begins to glow as Glave takes his hand off of it, the masked man cautiously takes a quick step back as Raven drops to his knees and growls. The blood being pumped throughout his body begins to sizzle and boil to an unimaginable amount of heat, he opens his mouth and attempts to say something, but the only thing that he can muster is more agonized screams.

Glave simply plays around with the blue cubes in his right hand like toys as Raven crawls along the ground with his human hand clenched firmly on his growing Nasod Arm, black flesh slowly starts to form around the outer shell of the robotic arm. Disgusting and gruesome muscles mutate inside the Nasod Arm, causing the arm to scratch its claws into the ground as it gets larger and larger.

Raven spits out a small pool of blood onto the floor beneath him as the pain slowly begins to slip away, he could feel the growth inside his muscles and flesh gradually come to a complete stop. The mutation had finally run its course. Raven's legs and feet begin to shake and shiver rapidly as he uses them to stand once more.

He uses his human hand to wipe off a drop of blood on the lips before lifting his Nasod Arm to take a good look at it. It was now black and red, with real pieces of flesh wrapped around it, and he could feel a constant pulse beating through it, like a heartbeat. His front portion of his hair had mutated as well, becoming a clear white colour.**[Reckless Fist Attire]**

His body felt like it was bursting with absolute adrenaline, he had never felt so great in his entire life. He drops his blade onto the ground and howls loudly at the sky above as he thrusts up his Nasod Arm into the air. Glave cackles excitedly as he stares at the beast he had created in front of him.

"Trust me, Raven. You're going to have a _lot _of fun crushing insolent fools with your new arm, kekekeke!"

* * *

"Kahaha! Panzer Buster!" Add laughs as the Nasod Dynamos dance in front of him and fire off a power, purple burst of compressed energy, the lazer blasts forwards and drills clean through the moving Nasod corpses. He cackles in delight as he straightens his white jacket and points his right hand outwards. **[Mastermind Attire]** "This is as good as time to test out the Nasod Factory than ever, _Shooting Chaser!_"

Eve watches silently as the crazed man commands his flying Dynamos to hover through the air and fire down deadly, energy attacks at the heads of the attacking Nasods, she boredly summons a blue screen in front of her and taps her fingers on it a few times.

"I must concur, these targets can be used to see how much progress we've made in our research. Come on, Oberon. Please make quick work of our enemies. Activation of new code: Successful." She states in a monotone voice as her tight, black dress dematerializes and is immediately replaced by a exquisite, white dress with a commanding crown on her head **[Code: Empress Attire]**

A tall Nasod with dual swords rested on its arms and a helmet on its head leaps out of Eve's blue screen and slowly obverses its surroundings. It curiously turns its head from left to right, staring at the new world he has been born in, like a newborn child. The Nasod Queen snaps her fingers to get the assistance's attention and glares seriously at it.

"You're my faithful servant, made to serve me without question or error. Now, get to work at serving your Queen. Sonic Wave!" Eve suddenly explains to the Nasod before pointing out her finger to the enemies and shouting out a command at it, Oberon stays still for a few seconds before nodding obediently and leaping straight towards the other Nasods. It spirals elegantly through the air and slices the enemies in front of it into small shreds.

Add watches as the Eve's servant gets to destroying the possessed Nasods without the slightest signs of trouble, he chuckles quietly under his breath before grinning at the Nasod Dynamos.

"I see that Oberon was a complete success, Eve. But I seriously doubt that he adds up to the amazing power and artificial intelligence that the Dynamos now possess! Dynamo Configuration, Rushing Drones!" He shouts confidently at her as he shoves his hands into his white jacket's pockets and allows multiple drones to dart towards the enemy and explode upon impact. Eve leaps backwards as a possessed Nasod swings its arms aimlessly at her, Oberon turns its head after crushing an enemy in its hand and notices his Queen is in trouble.

"O-Oberon! Guard me!" She commands weakly as two more Nasods close in on her, Oberon nods and rushes to her side and materializes a small shield for the two of them, the possessed Nasods slam against the energy shield and gradually make their way through, Add tilts his head to see the situation and sighs.

"I'll take care of this, Phantom Seeker!" Add smiles calmly as two, powerful drones spin rapidly around the inside of his palms, the drones quickly fire towards the Nasods breaking through Oberon's shield and cut through their chests in a matter of seconds. The Nasods immediately drop dead, Eve sighs quietly in relief and stares back at the grinning Add.

"Thank you, I appreciate the assistance."

"Hmph, not a problem. Anyway, that looks like its it, right? I think we crushed them all." Add speaks as he takes a quick yawn and commands the Nasod Dynamos to hover behind his back, he grabs a strand of white hair flowing in front of his face and tries to blow it away. Eve slowly turns her head and takes a look at their surroundings before nodding in agreement.

"Yes, it seems so. All the infected Nasods are no longer operational. Also, that long hair is going to hinder you in battle, it's blocking some of your sight. Here," Eve mutters to Add as she summons a blue screen again and allows a small hair band to materialize out of it, she holds it out for him with her left hand. Add stares quietly at her hand for a few moments before smiling smugly.

"Do you think you could put it on for me?"

"W-what? Why do you not just do it yourself, you fool?"

"Eeeeh~ But I've never had to tie up my hair before, pretty please…?" Add whimpers sarcastically to the Nasod Queen as he turns his head around and crouches so that she can reach his hair, Eve thinks about it for a few moments before sighing and reluctantly tying the back of his hair. Add giggles once she finishes and swings his ponytail around curiously, he turns back around to look at Eve and grins.

"Oh? Your cheeks seem to have a slight red shade to them, are you blushing~?"

Eve's eyes widen as Add leans in his head closer to her than she would prefer, she takes a small step back and stares blankly at Add's smug face. Her blushing remains for a few seconds before disappearing as her blank face turns into an irritated frown.

"Add…did I tell you what I would do when we'd finish this fight _you _started?" She mutters quietly as she glares at the broken-down Nasods around them, scattered across the floor.

"Hmm, I think you said something about getting a slap, right?"

"That's correct. Oberon, slap him for me." She commands angrily to her servant, Oberon quickly takes a step forwards and slaps Add across the face, Add simply cackles and doesn't bother to rub his cheek.

"Kahaha! You call that a slap?! You're such a weak motherfu-!" Add laughs happily at Oberon before being interrupted by a slap by Eve herself, the crazed man yelps in pain as the force of the slap send him flying backwards. Eve watches as he groans quietly and gets back to his feet, she frowns once more as her face becomes red again as she looks at him.

"…Idiot."


	55. No 49: A Chaotic Morning

**Hello once again! How are you? It's time for the next chapter~**

**And early chapter? Why?**

**Well, why not? :3**

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A small girl, wrapped in a beautiful, elegant sheet of blue light smiles calmly as she takes a step forward and stares at the tall man in front of her. She places her tiny hand on his chest and looks directly into the confused man's eyes.

"You've finally met your end, haven't you?"

The tall man's eyes widen as he realizes what her words mean, he takes a quick step backwards and forces her hand off of him.

"I'm dead?"

"Yes, your life has ended. The assassin known as Ciel has passed away on the battlefield." The tiny girl grins as she finds amusement out of the startled face as the tall man, he lowers his head slowly before looking at the girl covered in light. He raises an eyebrow and puts on a weak smile for her.

"Don't tell me, are you an angel? I really have kicked the bucket then, huh?" He chuckles nervously as he scratches the back of his head, the small girl places her hand over her cute mouth and giggles quietly at the man's remark.

"To call me an angel, that's pretty ironic, you know? I'm actually a demon, a high-ranking demon, too."

"A demon? Why are my last moments with a demon?"

The girl giggles cutely at the assassin's words one last time before stepping out of her blanket of light and putting on a serious face. She was still smiling, but it was the kind of smile that immediately sent an unsettling shiver down his spine.

"I'm sure, just like any other human out there in this world, you don't want it to all end here."

"Of course I do not want it to! There's still a lot I want to accomplish." Ciel protests as he holds his hands out and stares at them anxiously, he couldn't feel his heartbeat in this strange world he was in, but he was sure it would be beating at a terribly fast if it could. The girl thinks about his words for a few seconds and tilts her head to the side slowly.

"An assassin who kills for money…still has things he feels he could have done? Do you even have any friends that would miss you? Mourn for you? What could possibly be waiting for _you _on the other side?" She questions him like a cheeky detective as his frown causes her to giggle even more, he lowers his head again and contemplates over the question given to him. He senses tears form up in the corner of eyes as his eyes meet the small girl's again.

"Not really, no one will miss me...but there's still something I wish to protect."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"A girl that I found, abandoned with no memory and nowhere to go. I chose to take care of her, protect her…can you imagine it? A useless murderer like me taking care of a child like a parent?" Ciel chuckles weakly as the girl stays silent through his answer, all emotion had drained from her face and she only stared at him quietly. She glares at him in a way that he couldn't understand what she was feeling.

"Why did you choose to do that? Why did you choose to protect her?"

"Well, it all happened so fast that I didn't really have time to think about it. But…I think it's because she gave me a sense of-"

"-purpose?" The small girl mutters as she finishes his sentence for him, she sighs in irritation as she takes another step forward and allows the light around her to reveal herself. A girl with long, white hair, horns and a crown smiles happily as she steps completely out of the light to look at the assassin. "That's your answer…?"

"L-Lu! What are you doing here? Don't tell me that you're actually a-"

"Yes, I'm a demon. And _you _have been chosen to be the one that serves me for the rest of eternity!" She cackles excitedly with a grin that looked nothing like her innocent smile from before.

She suddenly leaps forward, grabs Ciel's hand and forcefully pulls him closer to herself. Her grin spreads creepily across her small face as she glares into the eyes of the terrified assassin, her eyes slowly change colour and her sclera turns completely back as she brings her head closer to him and presses her forehead against his. All the assassin could see were her empty, soulless eyes as their heads come in contact, the small girl shrieks in delight and opens her strangely-larger mouth.

"**I'll have you follow me to the very depths of Hell."**

* * *

"_Graaaaaah!_" Ciel gasps in fright as he leaps forwards and sits up on his bed, he senses his heart race as he struggles to breathe from his heavy panting, he closes his eyes and rubs them softly with his hands before opening them again to stare at the bed sheets on him.

He smiles and sighs weakly as he lowers his head and does his best to bring his breathing pattern back to normal.

It was just another nightmare.

Ciel turns his head to the right and smiles at the girl sleeping on the bed next to him, his master. She looked so incredibly cute when she was asleep, like she truly was an angel and not a demon, the assassin leans over to her bed and slowly brushes his index finger across her supple, soft cheek.

Her white hair was an absolute mess on her pillow and she was clearly drooling, but to Ciel, it was the most majestic he had ever seen. Her cheeks were so soft that the assassin thought that his finger was going to sink into her face at any moment.

"I see you're wide and awake," A voice laughs quietly from the bedroom door, Ciel immediately turns his attention to the man at the door and brushes his white hair out of his face. Draco has a smug and suggestive grin on him as he leans against the bedroom door and stares at Ciel's finger.

Ciel's face goes red as he frantically takes his finger off of his master's cheek as she snores quietly and smiles anxiously at the grinning man with the scythe on his back.

"G-Good morning!" Ciel whispers to Draco, the man chuckles one last time before looking back at the assassin.

"Mornin'" He responds causally, his smug smile still clearly visible on his face.

"You seem to have woke up early as well, have your wounds fully healed?"

"You're El-damn right, you thought these wounds were going to hold me down? I'm already feeling like I'm on top of the world."

"Did you get any news on the aftermath of our battle yesterday?" Ciel yawns weakly as he slowly gets out of his bedsheets, out of his bed, and places his clothes on.

The assassin only had loose shorts on as he got out of bed to wear his normal attire, and he was worried that Draco would feel awkward about the situation, however Draco hardly seemed to notice and spoke normally to Ciel as he put on his clothes.

"We're looking at several burnt-down towers, two army camps in need of serious repair, and multiple destroyed homes."

"The bastards…" Ciel mutters angrily as he equips his new throwing knifes to his belt, Draco shrugs to show that the damage done to Velder meant very little to him. The assassin finishes putting on his clothes and walks over to the bedroom door with Draco. "Any casualties?"

"Twenty four injured, and a hundred and fifty dead."

"A shame, so many useful soldiers lost, huh?" Lu grumbles tiredly as she gradually rolls out of bed, Ciel and Draco both quickly turn around to look at her. Ciel smiles and bows slightly as Lu slowly rubs her closed eyes.

"Good morning, Lu. Did you sleep well?"

"Well, _that _was kind of difficult with the broken bones and cuts. Not to mention, my own servant placing his hands onto my face first thing in the morning, while probably having perverted thoughts in his mind." She sighs in annoyance as she raises her small hand and snaps her fingers, the normal white gown she was wearing immediately begins to glow before changing into a unique, gorgeous, blue dress.

"That _was_ pretty messed up," Draco admits quickly as he turns his head and stares at the startled assassin, Ciel raises his hands and shakes them both dismissively as his face starts to go red again.

"N-No! That's not how it is! I never meant to-!"

"I didn't expect someone like you to be like that, though I suppose lolicons can come in all shapes and sizes…" Draco mutters smugly as he rubs his chin with his fingers like a detective, Ciel mumbles and stutters in embarrassment before lowering his head. Lu sighs and rolls her cute eyes.

"Anyway, how did you get all that information, Draco?"

"We're sleeping in an inn, with a bar right below us. I just went straight down, found a couple of idiotic men from the army, and encouraged them to drink like there was no tomorrow. They babbled out everything they knew after that, humans only get more stupid when they consume alcohol."

"Humans…?" Ciel repeats back to Draco as he finally calms down, Draco stares at Lu and Ciel in confusion before realizing what his words meant.

"Oh! Errr…I mean…_we _get pretty stupid when _we_ consume alcohol!" Draco quickly corrects himself suspiciously to the Duo, Lu raises her left eyebrow and folds her arm.

"We're not idiots, Draco." Lu scoffs back to him, but decides to drop the matter there. It honestly didn't matter what Draco was, he was useful to them either way.

"Did the soldiers say anything about the disappearance of our team?" The assassin questions Draco, he frowns in irritation and shakes his head.

"Nothing useful. All the drunkards said were that they searched the house where we were all staying and found nothing except that the furniture had been thrown around the place, implying there was some sort of struggle." Draco explains to the Lu and Ciel, he stares at their confused faces and straightens his black, leather jacket in a cool fashion. "And apparently, there were eyewitnesses saying that they saw a strange man enter our house at relatively the time of the team's disappearance."

"A strange man?" Lu repeats in confusion, Draco's frown turns into an expression of absolute disgust as he lowers his head.

"A masked man in a black cloak,"

"Lu, that sounds a lot like the man that we met earlier in our journey, correct?" Ciel gasps quickly, just the hearing the familiar description of the man was enough to make him shiver slightly. Draco grins at the reaction of the assassin.

"I'm guessing you're both already acquainted with the bastard,"

"You've met him, too?" Lu asks in suspicion, Draco simply laughs smugly at the question before answering it.

"Met him? We're practically rivals at this point."

"So you know who or what he is?" Ciel questions further, causing Draco's smile to slowly fade away. He grits his teeth and clenches his hands in fists.

"I don't have a single clue who that masked freak is, but I know that he's more powerful than anyone else I've ever seen, and I've encountered incredibly powerful fighters before."

"But why are you rivals?"

"Long story," Draco mutters irritatedly to the two of them, not wanting to recall the past. "Although, when I fought him, he wasn't wearing a mask. He had an ugly, blue face. And he was taller…"

"Maybe the guy you're rivals with and the masked man that's following us are two different people?" Lu suggests quietly to Draco, he lowers his head and nods slowly.

"I was just thinking that as well, and it _is _possibility. Even his voice is different to the cloaked man with the blue face."

"Just what kind of abilities did he have?" Ciel asks curiously as he begins to recall their encounter with the masked man, Draco shrugs effortlessly and sighs.

"A crap ton, to be honest. Let's see…he could endure my flames and reflect them with some kind of yellow shield, and had some kind of teleportation ability."

"Teleportation…" Ciel repeats the phrase slowly to himself before looking up and nodding at Lu. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah, the masked man might have teleported our team away. That would explain why people saw him at the place we were all staying at, and our team's sudden disappearance." Lu answers back to her servant smartly as she carefully readjusts the elegant crown on her head. Draco considers the Duo's theory and whistles happily.

"I'm impressed, that theory holds some water. Looks like I've got a couple of detectives on my side."

"That jerk! How dare he take my servants away, they were still useful to me!" Lu huffs in annoyance, she sits back on her bed and swings her short legs rapidly like a little child throwing a tantrum. Ciel sighs in a mixture of chuckle and a groan as he smiles at Draco.

"Could you go back downstairs and see if you can find any more information from the bartender? They usually spill some of the beans to customers." The assassin requests from his ally in a polite manner, Draco raises an eyebrow and tilts his head slightly at Ciel.

"You want me to be a 'customer'? I don't exactly want to indulge in that kind of humanly activity, that disgusting liquid is not for me."

"Just have a glass or two, force yourself. We need to know as much as possible to figure out what to do from here."

Draco glares daggers at the commanding assassin in front of him, he grumbles angrily but shrugs reluctantly and turns around to leave.

"Whatever, I'll do it. Are you coming downstairs too, or what?"

"Yeah, we will. We'll be down with you in a few minutes." Ciel responds quickly as Draco nods and leaves the bedroom, Ciel watches his ally go down the stairs outside their room before closing the door and looking back at his master.

"So, what's our next course of action? Our team is missing and all we know is that the strange, masked man that's a mystery to us is probably involved. There isn't much to go on."

Lu yawns and stares carelessly at her servant, she gets to her feet and puts on a smug look for Ciel.

"I don't think we even need them anymore, just look at us! We've both ascended to a completely new level of strength, doesn't the rest of the team just seem like dead weight now? I say we leave Velder this afternoon and move on to wherever the demons are active at now."

"Don't say that, Lu. We need them. We cannot let our guard down simply because we've gained more power, they are still great allies."

"Well alright, mister smarty-pants. What do _you _think we should do next? Just wait around like idiots, in hope that they'll return?"

"I…I don't know…"

Lu stares at Ciel for a few moments quietly, waiting for him to figure something out or justify his opinion on sticking with the team, but the assassin says nothing more. She sighs once more and frowns at the sounds of cheering and laughter coming from underneath them.

"Geez, these floors are too thin. I can clearly hear those foolish, drunk idiots downstairs, when will they shut up?" She whispers, Ciel chuckles at her remark and smiles at her, causing her to raise an eyebrow and glare at her servant. "What?"

"It might seem foolish to you, but drinking is almost a traditional thing to human adults. It's a way of sitting down with your friends, having fun and forgetting all your trouble, at least for a little while."

"Are you speaking from experience, Ciel?"

"I never actually had friends, remember?"

"Oh right, I forgot. You were just a sad, lonely man before our contract." Lu recalls to her servant casually, Ciel lowers his head and cringes weakly at her harsh words.

"You couldn't have phrased that a little better…?"

"Hehe! Well, at least you've changed a lot since then!"

Ciel raises his right hand and uses it to brush through his white hair with a blue strand in the middle of it as he looks at his master.

"Are you talking about the hair or my height?"

"No, silly! I'm talking about the expression of your face! You used to have that cold, unemotional stare on you, with clear signs of insecurity and doubt on it, but now it's more kind and you definitely look more sure of yourself. I'm saying you've changed as a person."

"Do you prefer the new me or the old me?"

Lu grins smugly and pretends like she's in deep thought, she shrugs her small shoulders and giggles.

"Weeeell, the old Ciel didn't really complain and _was_ less of a pain in the butt…"

"Wha-!" Ciel jumps back, startled at his master's response. Lu wraps her hands around her skinny sides and laughs uncontrollably.

"Huhuhuhu~! I'm just kidding with you! I like this side of you a lot more. Although, you were right about the height thing…you've gotten even taller."

"And you no longer look like a child…" Ciel sighs sadly as he lowers his head and begins to sniff loudly, Lu's smile immediately fades as she swings her left foot back and kicks his shin, causing to howl in pain as he falls onto the floor.

"You really are into little children, aren't you?! You sicko! You leech!" She yells furiously as she kicks him continuously as he rolls across the floor in agony, she kicks him in the stomach one last deep before taking a deep sigh and turning her head away from him. Ciel gets back up from the ground and looks surprised as a sad look appears on her face.

"Am I…not cute anymore…?" She whispers quietly as she turns to the assassin and stares at him with her huge, blue, mesmerising eyes. Ciel's eyes widen as he realizes her level of cuteness only multiplied when she was upset.

"N-No! You're still incredibly cute, Lu! More cute than you could ever imagine!" Ciel quickly replies reassuringly to his master as he begins to blush, Lu looks calmly at Ciel and smiles.

"Hehe, thanks for tha-"

Lu stops her thanks as she notices a clear stream of blood rolling down Ciel's nose as he stares at her. The demonic girl's furious expression returns as steam almost bursts out of her ears.

"You dare have a nosebleed in front of your majesty?! Get out of my sight!" She shouts madly as she kicks the assassin across the room.


	56. No 50: When Losing Something Precious

**Hello all~ Thanks for your patience, it's highly appreciated!**

**Sorry for the fact that this chapter came out slightly later than I had intended, the website went through another maintenance and there was nothing I could do about it. I'm glad the problem was resolved though! C: **

**Oh? It looks like there's no one new to give a special thanks to this time, well instead, special thanks to everyone who has followed/****favourited****/reviewed so far. You're the reason this story has reached this far, you keep it alive and for that I'm eternally grateful~! C:**

**And thanks for your review, SolorCorona! Your compliments are appreciated and I'll use it to further improve the next chapters! C:**

**And to MitusAura for your review, I'm very sorry but I can't just speed up the story like that, but I promise you'll see what you're looking forward to eventually~! C:**

**Note: I've been considering the possibility of re-doing the first couple of chapters for the story since they're too short and don't really give a good idea to what the story is all about, or at least that's how I see it. I'm not sure if I should, it might just ruin the story instead...what do you think? Advice on the matter would b highly appreciated and definitely considered~!**

**Feedback is always welcome and I hope you enjoy~! C:**

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"Elsword, hurry up, will you? You're falling behind." Aisha groans to the red-haired Knight panting weakly behind her. The Knight was sitting under one of the trees as the Mage ordered him to get back up, the rays of the sun above them was powerful and emitted a lot of heat, both of them were disgustingly sweaty.

"Geez, just how much longer do we have to walk? It's like this forest never ends." The Knight complains as he gets back onto his feet and looks at Aisha, his hair was an absolute mess and his attire was scruffy.

"We have to keep moving and find out where Rena is, the masked man said that he'd bring the three of us back to Ruben, so she has to be around here somewhere."

"This is insane! Just who was that guy, anyway? He seemed pretty darn strong, it's a shame I didn't get to fight him. It could have a good battle."

"This is all because your foolish sister rushed in and tried to attack that weird man, we were all teleported in a rush."

"Hey! Elesis isn't foolish! She's just…not that good with decision-making…"

"That goes for _both _of you," Aisha retorts as she wipes her sweating forehead with one hand and plays with her staff in the other.

The sound of a large mirror cracking and shattered behind them causes a shiver to slither down their spines as they turn around to see a masked man walk casually out of a blue, cracked void. He waves his right hand out in a friendly manner and chuckles.

"Why, hello there. It's good to see you two rascals again! I apologize for leaving you here with little to no explanation, I was just busy with giving your friends their own challenges to pull through."

"H-How is Sis and everyone else doing?! They'd better not be hurt!" Elsword yells as he unsheathes the sword from behind his back and points it at Glave, the masked man chuckles again and shrugs his shoulders.

"I wouldn't worry about them, they seem dedicated enough to survive the challenges I've set for them. Though…I _did _give Chung the second-hardest challenge out of all of you…I wonder if he'll make it."

"The second-hardest? Then who got the first?" Aisha questions the masked man calmly, for whatever reason she wasn't in the slightest bit surprised or scared about the situation, contrary to the shaking Knight next to her. Glave takes a daring step forward to the Mage and the Knight and glares at them with his one visible eye.

"I'm afraid you two got the hardest challenge, it's not for any particular reason, I set up these challenges at random. You guys were just unlucky for being the ones to have to fight the most difficult enemy."

"Ha! That's no problem! In fact, I'm actually happy to have the hardest challenge. I'll show you just what I'm made of!"

"Good! That's the spirit. Well then, come on. Kill me." Glave laughs enthusiastically to the two fighters as he holds his hands out and waits for either of them to attack, Aisha raises her left eyebrow and looks confused at the masked man.

"What…? _You're_ the one we're going to fight?"

"Yes, I'm your challenge. I will be your opponent and the one to push you to new limits," The masked man responds in a deep sigh to the Mage, Elsword scratches the back of his head and tilts it to the side.

"And all we have to do to beat this challenge is to kill you?"

"That's correct, just kill me. That's pretty simple right? So, come on!" Glave exclaims to the Knight, Elsword begins to grin as he gets into a battle stance and glares at the strange man before him.

"Are you sure you wanna challenge me, you weirdo? I'll warn you, I'm the best Knight to ever live! Plus, you don't have any weapons or even armor." Elsword snickers like a child as he gradually starts to walk closer and closer to the man with the mask, Glave laughs back at the boy and shrugs his shoulders again.

"Then this should be a breeze for you, Elsword."

"Heh! Now you're just asking for it, Sonic Blade!" Elsword cheers as he leaps forward and swings his sword around him, emitting a red aura that forcefully drags Glave towards him. The masked man doesn't attempt a counter and watches quietly as the Knight takes the opportunity to slash his weapon around.

Glave laughs in amusement as he dodges the slashes of Elsword's sword, one by one, even acting playful as he did so. He stares at the slow, predictable attacks and grabs the sword as Elsword tries to stab it into his chest. The moment the masked man's right hand grabs hold of the Knight's weapon, it comes to a complete halt.

"I'm thoroughly disappointed, I heard that you were a skilled sword user, but this isn't even close to my expectations." The masked man sighs, Elsword growls angrily under his breath and pulls his sword out of Glave's hand.

"You might be fast enough to dodge my normal attacks, but you can't dodge _this! _Sandstorm!"

Elsword jumps backwards to make some place between him and the masked man and slices his sword through the air, small particles flow softly in front of the Knight before materializing into a large, swirling storm that fires directly towards Glave. The masked man whistles as he watches the furiously-spinning sand drags itself across the ground, and holds out his right hand.

"Interesting, even though you're a Knight that does not utilize magic, you implemented it slightly into your fighting style. Good thing that's it not completely a magic spell though." Glave speaks as the sandstorm comes to a complete halt before colliding with him and gradually sinks back into the earth beneath them.

Elsword stares in utter awe as the storm he created disappears in front of his very eyes, he had never seen anyone that could stop an attack from happening just by pointing their hand at it. He begins to sweat more as the pressure of the battle starts to weigh down on him, he gets back into a battle position and considers what his next move should be. Aisha begins to grin confidently and almost giggles, she takes a few steps backwards from the masked man and stands calmly behind the Knight.

"Did I just hear that right? You're thankful that musclebrain over here can't properly use magic? Why is that?" She questions Glave cheekily, the masked man's visible eyes widen as he realizes that the Mage had figured out the meaning of his words. "You seem almost…_afraid _of magic."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Elsword asks to the girl behind her while raising an eyebrow, Aisha nods happily at the Knight and holds out her magical staff.

"Alright, Eldork. I'm pretty sure I've found out about his weakness. Keep attacking him with everything you've got, I'll be your support, so make sure to keep him away from me."

"I'm not sure what you're planning on doing but…okay!" Elsword smiles back at Aisha before picking up his sword and running up to the agitated, masked man. He swings his sword left and right, just barely missing Glave.

The masked man keeps leaning from side to side, carefully dodging each one of the sword's swings. The Mage behind the Knight laughs one last time before pointing her staff at the sky and allowing particles of magic to dance around her.

"Let's see if _this _works! Chain Burst!" She yells confidently as large fireballs of magic burst out of her and fire at the masked man and Elsword, the Knight notices the attack from his ally and steps back quickly.

"You seem pretty proud about your magic, still…it's nothing but-" Glave sighs as he raises his right hand again to dematerialize the attack, however the fireballs do not stop and smash right into the masked man. He yelps in shock as his cloak catches fire and his skin begins to sizzle. "-_graaah!" _ He cries in agony.

Aisha's eyes widen and her mouth almost drops as she realizes that her prediction was correct.

"Hehehe! I knew it! You can somehow cancel out physical attacks, but you can't cancel any kind of magical attack!"

"S-So what…? Your magical might be able to touch me, but it doesn't even comes close to being able to injure me." Glave groans as he almost drops to his knees trying to regain his powerful composure, Aisha immediately points at the surprised Knight and smiles at him.

"That's when _you _come in, Elsword! Give him the heaviest hits you've got, _do it now!_" Aisha commands Elsword quickly, the Knight nods in agreement and slices and cuts directly at the masked man.

Glave attempts to lean past the attacks but instead gets hit by every single one of them, he coughs angrily as he becomes stuck in a lengthy combo of slashes by Elsword, the masked man clenches the cube in his right hand and teleports away, making a small amount of distance between him and the speedy Knight.

"Woah, I actually landed some blows on you. You're slowing down a lot, but you can't be out of energy already…" Elsword says to the panting, masked man. Glave clenches his chest with his left hand and glares at the two fighters before him.

"Don't you get it, you idiot? My magical attacks aren't actually hurting him, but they're slowing him down significantly. He became even slower than you."

"Oh, okay! I get it now, then let's keep hitting him, heh!" Elsword chuckles like a child as he rushes up to the silent, masked man and hits him around a couple more times with his weapon.

Glave glares hatefully and quietly at the Knight as he allows himself to continuously be hit by the annoying brat, he refuses to gasp in pain anymore and continues to stay quiet despite the pain emitting through his skinny body from every hit. He growls as the last hit from Elsword's weapon slams into the right side of his skull, he takes two quick steps backwards to catch his breath and prepare a counterattack.

"Oh no, you don't! We're not going to give you time to recover, Water Cannon!" Aisha shouts to the masked man as she waves her wand around and releases dozens of water balls to blast into the panting Glave, the balls travel directly forward in a straight line and crash into his body, Elswod grins and rushes back up to his enemy.

"Windmill!" He speaks with confidence as he holds his sword out and begins to spin around uncontrollably, cutting through Glave's cloak and his flesh. The masked man closes his visible eye and calmly thinks about the situation.

"_Kekeke, okay. I see what's going on now. That mage and the boy have figured out that magical spells don't hurt me, but they can slow me down. That's when the Knight attacks, he waits for me to be stunned by one of the girl's spells then attacks me straight afterwards. And they both think this is a flawless battle strategy because I can't reach for the mage, how adorable!" _Glave thinks to himself in his head as he casually allows the Knight to continue to smack him around with his sword, no longer showing signs of him being in pain, causing Elsword's smug grin to fade.

"What's going on? He's just letting us hit him!" The Knight mutters as he stops his series of blows and takes a small step back, Glave chuckles and shakes his head.

"It's intriguing, honestly. You two seem to be like oil and water together when you're alone, but as battle partners, you two work very well with each other. Strange, isn't it? Well, I guess even your sudden teamwork isn't enough, since you two still haven't ascended to a new level. Just what should I do to push you over the edge? Hmm…" The masked man contemplates and speaks at the same time to the two confused fighters, Aisha grits her teeth angrily and pulls out a spell book.

"You talk way too much, Lightning-!" She begins to say as dark clouds materialize above her, Glave's visible eye widens as he figures out a plan and teleports behind Aisha,

The masked man holds out his right hand and stabs it clean through the Mage's back, crimson-red blood gushes out of the bloody wound as Glave slowly pulls his hand back out, a dark pool of blood spreads out across the grass beneath them, with the open hole in her stomach acting as the waterfall. Her mouth gradually drops open and she emits a high-pitched gasp before dropping helplessly on the ground like a ragdoll, Elsword stares in utter disbelief at the scene behind him, his mind failing the register what happened as it all happens so fast.

"E-Els…word-!" Aisha gasps weakly as she crawls across the ground and through her own blood, she stares back at the horrified Knight and opens her mouth to say something more, but her eyes close and her head drops as well, Glave glares at the disgusting liquid on his right hand and slowly rubs it off, acting casually about the murder he had just committed. Elsword rubs his eyes a few times and prays that he was just dreaming.

But every time he would open his eyes again, all that was lying in front of him was Aisha's corpse. He eventually lifts his head and looks quietly at the masked man, Glave chuckles again and tilts his head.

"There, this should help. A death of a comrade usually does the trick, it was a shame to have to lose a skilled fighter like her, but I sensed a larger portion of potential in you, so this sacrifice was necessary. So, do you feel any kind of new power? Do you wish to fight me with everything you've got?"

The Knight lowers his head to the point where his eyes were no longer visible, he stays silent as he slowly walks up to the masked man in front of him, walking lifelessly like a zombie as he does so. He raises his left hand and allows a small flicker of flames to appear in his palm. Glave becomes slightly startled as the flame in Elsword's free hand begins to gradually grow, becoming brighter and brighter in the process.

A crazed smile reveals itself to be on the Knight's face as he raises his chin and shows himself again, he places his sword on his right shoulder as the dark flames in his left hand converts itself to a rune with the number three on it, a blanket of yellow light curls around his body and materializes a new set of clothes on him **[Rune Slayer Attire]**

"**Fight you? No, I want to kill you."**

Glave grunts with irritation at the Elsword's sudden harsh words, the masked man had never seen this kind of expression on the Knight, even though he had been watching him for a while. He glares silently at the Knight as he slowly approaches but finally chuckles instead as he holds out a blue cube in his right hand.

"That's quite brave and confident of you, Elsword. But can you really-" Glave begins to speak smugly, his words get cut off as a sword slams into his gut and lungs, giving him difficulty to breathe. His one visible eye widens as he coughs out a small amount of blood and teleports away with the blue cube in his position. Elsword immediately darts to where the masked man teleported and raises his left hand.

"You're not going anywhere," Elsword whispers in a monotone, emotionless voice to the startled, masked man as he slams the palm of his hand onto Glave's stomach. "Splash Explosion,"

A giant, yellow rune materializes on Glave's stomach as Elsword quickly takes his hand off of it. He leaps backwards and watches as Glave glares with confusion with the object on his chest, he opens up his mouth to growl something at the Knight but gets interrupted by the sheer pain as the rune suddenly expands and explodes into a fury of flames. The force of the explosion sends Glave rolling backwards across the floor, he gasps in agony and clenches his right hand.

"How…how did you-?! You've never been able to use proper magic before, since when did this happen?! Urgh, never mind. That doesn't even matter, no one can utilize magic to its full potential without training. Let's see just how much that weak improvement will help again _this!" _Glave cackles as he stands back up and regains his composure, he tosses his blue cube into the air and watches as it splits up and forms into sharp daggers. Elsword glares quietly at the blue daggers and raises his sword before rushing towards the masked man again.

Elsword runs under the shower of daggers and sidesteps to the left and the right, dodging each one of them with precise co-ordination. The last one fires straight towards him instead of falling from above, barely grazing past Elsword's left cheek as he leans his head to the side. Glave stares in disbelief as the Knight catches up to him once more, he leans backwards as the Knight goes for direct slashes and dodges swiftly, much to Elsword's annoyance. The Knight gives up and instead slams his left hand onto the ground.

"Rising Wave!" He cries out as he summons large, magical swords from beneath them, each one cutting through Glave one at a time. The masked man hisses from the pain as the magic causes him to be unable to move. He observes in slow motion as the Knight lifts both of his hands and leaps towards him, he growls in frustration as he cannot do anything but watch.

"_Damn this child! It was difficult fighting him when he had a mage on his side, but now he's mixed it into his sword fighting style perfectly…I can't allow him to do this to me! At this rate…I might actually __**die!**__" _Glave gasps weakly in his head as Elsword grabs him by his cloak and stares directly into his one eye.

"This is for Aisha! Sword Fire, Phoenix Talon, _Storm Blade!_" The Knight shrieks as he stabs his weapon into the ground and uses his magic to cause fire to erupt around them, burning Glave's skin and causing him to yell in pain.

Elsword then raises his left hand to the sky and causes a phoenix made of flames materialize and forcefully drag him into the sky, Glave gasps and summons a cube into his hand as he falls helplessly back to the awaiting Knight below. Magical sword begin to spin around Elsword like a tornado, ready to slice the masked man into pieces, Glave curses angrily under his breathe and uses his new cube to teleport away just a moment before landing on the spiralling sword beneath him.

Elsword watches quietly as the masked man disappears completely before he could finish him off. The Knight waves his left hand dismissively and stares as the sword around him gradually fade, Elsword raises his head and glares silently at where Glave should have been.

"…coward," Elsword mutters with tears in his red eyes as he drops his sword onto the grass below, the both it and the plantation was staining with the blood of his comrade. He brushes his shaggy, messy hair out of his face and walks slowly up to his friends corpse, and grabs the brown book she had dropped onto the ground, he frantically skims through the pages to find some sort of solution. "Come on…please…I'm begging you…please let there be something here! I'll do anything to-"

His fingers come to a stop and he ends flipping through the pages, as his eyes become fixed on a single page in the middle. He begins to properly cry as he reads the content of the page, staining his face with a red colour as the blood dripping from his skull mixes with his tears.

There was one way he could bring her back, one way he could save her from the horrible fate that she had succumbed to.

But it was going to change her forever.

* * *

"I think I've gotten a pretty good idea of what this place is now," Rena mutters quietly to herself as she wanders through the lush, green forest. She raises her left hand's index finger and gives it a quick lick before holding it up into the air.

She closes her eyes and concentrates on the sensation of the wind on her finger, checked the direction of the breeze. The green-haired Elf shakes her head and places her hands on her hips.

"Yes…the wind is flowing in random directions and…" She whispers in deep thought, she drops to her knees and grabs pieces of the grass beneath her, feeling it carefully in her hands. It looked green and healthy, however it was stiff and the surface was undeniably rough. Rena nods her head to herself as she comes to her conclusion.

"…the grass feels like plastic, the clouds in the sky aren't moving at all, and the flow of the wind is completely random. I'm absolutely sure of it now, this place isn't Ruben. This world is so fake I felt like something was off the moment I teleported here. That masked man might have the power to create worlds that could fool ordinary humans, but I can recognize what is nature and what isn't."

"The real world…and the fake one…_I hate them both._" A voice growls from behind the Elf, Rena takes a quick swing around and notices a scarred, tall man walking towards her. Her face shows a sign of relief as she smiles at him.

"R-Raven! It's so good to see-!" She begins to giggles as she holds out her arms for him, the scarred man hisses and leaps forward while pointing his Nasod Arm out.

"Valkyrie's Javelin!" Raven roars as he slams his robotic arm onto the ground below them, Rena's eyes widen as she backflips away and watches as Nasod javelins appear from out of nowhere and rain down at her. She sidesteps and gasps as she just narrowly dodges the sudden attack.

"Raven! What are you doing?! Please, stop this! What has gotten into you?!" The Elf cries as the scarred man wastes no time and rushes up to the green-haired girl.

"Silence, you all sent Seris to her grave…so I'll send you to yours! Charged Bolt, Bloody Thorns!" Raven yells as he holds his hands out and allows several spiked balls to hurdle towards the Elf. Rena gasps again as she rolls to the side to dodge but grazes past the last spike. She looks anxiously at her leg and notices the deep cut on her right knee, the blood soaks out rapidly, staining the grass beneath her. She turns her head back to the scarred man before her, her expression absolutely horrified.

"W-Why would you…? Don't you recognize me anymore, Raven…? It's me, Rena. Why are you hurting me?"

"I don't know you! You're just another damned human that took everything away from me!" Raven shrieks angrily as the Elf gradually walks closer and closer to him, she lowers her head and senses tears rolling down her cheeks.

She knew this day would finally come, Raven had warned her whenever they were alone. He always told her that he was running out of time, that he would soon lose his mind to the Nasod Arm. She would lean in, and gently wipe away his tears, and hug him. She would reassure him, let him now that she would always be there for him. Telling herself that he was wrong, that she'd never have to see that heartless side of him.

She was tricking herself.

She experiences a sharp pain in her heart, almost as though it was being stabbed multiple times, as she raises her chin and looks at Raven again. His eyes were full of hate and the urge for revenge, but they were tired. His body was tense, ready to crush anything in his way, but it was also shaking and shivering weakly. His Nasod Arm was clenched by his side, his claws sticking out to rip someone to pieces, but it was trembling. She could see past the monster standing before her, and the suffering Raven inside.

Her vision becomes blurred by the large amount of tears in them as she stands confidently before the scarred man. She equips a bow on her shoulder and gets into a battle stance.

She was going to help Raven, she was going to be there for him, to spare him anymore suffering.

She was going to put him out of his eternal misery.

"Please, Raven. Let me be the one to do this. I can see the agony in your fierce eyes. I promised you that you would never hurt any of your friends if you ever lost to that arm." She weeps softly to the scarred man as she lungs forward and kicks Raven directly in his gut.

"Forgive me, b-but…I'll do whatever is necessary…_to keep that promise!_" She whispers quietly as her heavy tears drop from her cheeks and down onto the grass below.


	57. No 51: A Severe Beatdown

**Helloo~! Ready for the next chapter?**

**This chapter will pretty much act like a filler until I can get the next chapter out, I also decided to change the style around a little bit, I wonder if it works! C:**

**A big and special thanks to Luciela Rufus for following and favouriting! And also, thank you for choosing me as one of your favourite authors! It's an absolute honour and I hope I don't disappoint~! Welcome to the family! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~!**

* * *

Glave coughs and wheezes as he rolls across the ground as he flies out of a blue portal and lands onto a large, blue cube. He had made his way back to the time-space continuum. The masked man places his right hand on his chest and notices the massive hole in it.

His kneecap was missing, the bones in his ribcage were broken, he was suffering from internal bleeding and he could no longer move his left arm. All injuries that were going to be a pain to regenerate, the thought of extra work like this bothered him.

He raises his head and spots a white throne hovering in the air, holding a man with the same black cloak as him, with a tattooed, blue face. The man snaps his fingers to command his throne to float down onto the cube Glave was on, the man reaches the ground and gradually gets out of his seat.

"So, you've returned to the continuum, and in a desperate rush by the looks of it." The man with a large key in his right hand mutters quietly to Glave, the masked man sighs restlessly and clenches his fists.

"I encountered a bit of a problem," Glave admits to his master, angered as the sensation of snapping his flesh back to together irritated him.

"And what would that be?"

"The Knight, known as Elsword…I've talked about him a few times to you."

"Oh yes, the one you said that managed to land a fatal blow onto Berthe, am I correct?"

"You are, Master. However, my plan was to make his team even more powerful than before, I wanted to push them to new limits."

"For our entertainment," The man with the blue face chuckles happily, Glave nods quickly before continuing.

"…but there were some…unexpected results."

"Is that why you're in your current state? I cannot even recall the last time you were in this condition."

"Well, I had planned to push Elsword to the point where he would be forced to improve his sword-fighting technique, instead he somehow attacked me with various different types of magic." Glave groans as he feels his shoulder blades move back into their correct position, the master lowers his head and sighs.

"Oh right, and magic is your weakness. I completely forgot about that. It messes with your regeneration ability, doesn't it?"

"And it slows me down,"

"But why teleport here in such a hurry? It's not as though he could have actually_ killed_ you."

"I'm aware of that, but I didn't see much point in fighting him anymore. Even if it was in a way that I hadn't predicted, he still ascended to a new level. So my work there was done."

"Fair point," The master admits as he nods his head slowly, Glave laughs weakly and stares at the man in front of him seriously.

"I had to kill the mage for that to happen though, I apologize for not asking for your permission beforehand."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Sacrifices have to be made, and to be honest, I didn't really like her anyway. She was the least entertaining for me."

"And I'm sorry for displaying such weakness,"

The man with the blue face stays silent after the second apology from his servant, he places his hands behind his back and turns away slowly from Glave. He walks calmly ahead and stares boredly at the giant cubes surrounding them.

"You may show signs of weakness at times, but that's what makes us mere mortals. If we were beings like the Greater Ones, the situation would be far different." The master replies back to Glave in a slow, monotone voice. The masked man following behind him shrugs his shoulders and points at him.

"Do you suppose they keep an eye on us?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, I'm afraid. Besides, it's not like that really matters. _We're _the ones who watch over this world. _We_ are the guardians of it all. Without the continuum, everything would cease to exist."

"Of course,"

"So, please enlighten me. What are your plans from here on out? I want to know just what kind of mischief you're planning on getting into now. You've been pretty busy so far."

"Well, the demons are my first priority."

"Oh? Do you intend to join the war with the humans and the demons? That's new. I can't remember the last time you've actually been interested in these kinds of affairs."

Glave raises his head to the sky and releases a loud chuckle for his master, the masked man plays around with the blue cubes in his hands for a few moments and shakes his head.

"I don't plan on fighting the war for them, but I want the front row seats to the show! It's going to be a blast, both metaphorically and literally." Glave cackles happily in absolute delight, the master nods in agreement and smiles himself.

"Oh, I see now. I would love to join you, but you know how busy work is these days." The master sighs in disappointment.

"Indeed, more and more of those filthy demons are infesting the continuum. It's getting quite annoying, just yesterday it took me a _full _minute to kill a clone of the Dark Nephilim!" Glave groans in irritation, the master laughs quietly at his servant's remark.

"I'll be heading off now, take care of the continuum while I'm gone, alright?" The man with the blue face questions Glave as he gradually begins to hover in the air, Glave takes a professional bow for his master and nods.

"Of course, please take you time."

The masked man watches silently as his master dematerializes himself and vanishes, the servant sighs one last time and snaps his fingers to take another look at how the team was doing.

His eyes widen as the crack in space shows visions of a bleeding Elsword rushing up to the dead mage and preparing some sort of spell, while also showing Rena and Raven fighting each other, with only a small amount of distance between them in the tiny forest.

Glave senses both a feeling of happiness and irritation as he glares at the image.

"It's a good thing I teleported Raven right to where the Elf was after he lost his mind, I look forward to seeing him rip her to pieces, but why is Elsword trying to do another spell? He can't possibly think that he can bring her back…right? Perhaps I should teleport back there and stop him from attempting such a foolish thi-" Glave growls in deep thought to himself as he lifts his right hand and opens a cracked portal beside him, he almost steps in but stops at halfway.

"…No…you know what? I'll just keep watching, I'm curious to see what that boy will do next. Just what will he sacrifice to bring the girl back? His body? His soul…?"Glave whispers happily to himself, giggling almost like a little girl. He leans in closer to the image and grins.

"Or something even more…precious…?"

* * *

"Dear El, this stuff is disgusting,"

Draco groans and complains even more about his hate for the drink in the large mug in front of him, his hair was a mess and his expression was unsettling. The sound of cheers and laughter around them didn't affect his attitude, the drunks in the pub only angered him more.

He leans in further, with his arms, over the table where his drink was resting, the table was dirty with chunks of mud and other substances. The wooden stool holding him was painful and irritated too, and the bartender would shoot him a look every time he sighed or groaned again, much to Draco's annoyance.

Draco directs his attention back to the people sitting on the two stools to his right, the assassin and the loud girl accompanying him. Ciel had no problem at all with his drink, he was drinking the repulsive liquid like there was no tomorrow, but Lu didn't even order a drink for herself.

"Not interested in a drink?" Ciel questions his master as he finishes the last sip of his mug and signals for another drink from the bartender with his right hand. Lu raises an eyebrow to her servant and puts on a fake grin.

"I still look like a child, remember? It will probably seem a little strange for a little girl to start drinking, even though I am curious to see what it tastes like…how annoying~!" Lu huffs as she puffs up her small, chubby cheeks and pouts at the assassin. Ciel's face immediately changes shade as he experiences another level of adorableness from his master. Draco shrugs carelessly and rolls his eyes.

"That didn't stop you from entering this place," He points out for Lu, the little girl tilts her head and simply smiles in agreement. Ciel turns his head to Draco and gives him a dry chuckle.

"It's obvious you're not enjoying yourself, have you ever even had alcohol before? It doesn't look like you have." The assassin speaks, trying to pry into Draco's past and find out more about him, bit by bit. Draco considers what the safest response would be, and how he would explain it. He turns his head the other way to avoid eye contact and forces himself to take another sip of his drink.

"I've had some from time to time, I've just never gotten used to its taste."

Ciel hums at the reply, obviously doubting the man's words, but decides to not continue the subject. The several drinks he had already enjoyed that made him feel light-headed and he wasn't in the mood for a deep conversation. Everything was moving around him in a strange motion, and he was far too busy with trying to shake off the overwhelming feeling of dizziness and nausea.

"Ciel? Are you alright? It looks like you're having trouble keeping your head from swaying…" Lu mutters with a sigh at the end, Ciel turns his head to the girl and smiles sheepishly as he begins to hiccup.

"Heh, I might be a little tipsy right now." He admits in a quiet chuckle, Draco shakes his head to shame the assassin and shoots him a look. A look of disappointment.

"We were supposed to be here for information, but you've just gone and gotten yourself drunk. Typical. Lu, careful around him, who knows what he'll try to do."

"Huhuhu, you're right about that. Ciel was already dangerous _without _the alcohol." Lu giggles teasingly to Ciel, the assassin plays along and shows a look of shock and acts offended.

"Hehehe. W-what…? No…why would you say something like that…master? I have dignity, you know!" Ciel laughs from his intoxication, he places his head on the table and closes his eyes, he felt a terrible headache and he became aware that he was acting like an idiot. He stays silent and prays for his headache stops, Lu rolls her eyes for Draco and smiles at him, and Draco smiles back.

"I'm glad that I didn't have as much as him," Draco speaks to Lu, trying to get the volume of his voice high enough for him to be heard over the screams and laughter in the pub. Lu shakes her head solemnly.

"He's an idiot, but he's _my _idiot. I have to put up with his shenanigans," She laughs happily back to him, Draco stares at Lu's genuine smile as she tries to help Ciel lift his head off the table, she acted like she was annoyed by the situation but she was clearly enjoying it.

It was true what Ciel had told him, humans really did have fun in places like these. The reasons behind that fact, however, was something he simply couldn't understand. But he could feel the vibe emitting off of his allies, which made him unable to not smile.

The happiness that spread from the Duo and onto him was short-lived though, because the thought of where his partner and the team could be right now was beginning to bite away at him, and there was nothing he could do about it. It had only been three days since he had last seen Elesis, but he could already feel a sickening feeling in his stomach whenever he remembered that she was missing.

He was absolutely certain that he didn't feel any kind of happiness when around her, but he realized that he still felt depressed when she wasn't with him. Was it because she was missing, or did he actually miss seeing her? He didn't know the answer to that irritating question. But he was sure that he wanted to see her smile again, and the confident look in her eyes, her long, soft hair. Her-

Draco slaps himself hard on his right cheek and only senses more anger build up in him. Just what was he thinking? His thoughts were always going off track, especially when it came to Elesis, and it seriously pissed him off. He takes in a calm and deep breath, he needed to stop thinking for a while. Perhaps another mug of the disgusting liquid called 'alcohol' would do him some good for that purpose.

"Draco…? You look like you're in a daze." Ciel points out as his headache slowly fades, Draco jumps suddenly as he drops out of his thoughts. He fakes a smile for the assassin and shakes his right hand reassuringly.

"Nah, I'm fine. I just felt like-" Draco begins to conjure up another lie, but becomes interested by the weight of a hand appearing on his shoulder. He stops midway and turns his head around to see a man, probably in his thirties, standing behind his stool, the man was scarred and he was missing a right eye.

Draco glares silently at the man for a few seconds before lowering his gaze to the large hand still on him. He raises an eyebrow and puts on a threatening expression to the drunkard.

"Get your hand off of me," Draco commands to the man in the calmest voice he could muster, the scarred man leans his head in and allows Draco to cringe from the smell of alcohol in his breath.

"You're seating in my seat, pal." The man hisses, Draco stares silently at him for a few more moments and notices the large bottle in his hand. The man had been drinking, there was no other explanation for the daringness of telling someone to get out of their seat.

"Are you asking me to get up?" Draco mutters back, still sounding as calm as he could ever manage. The bald man squints his eyes and leans in even more, much to Draco's displeasure as the stench from his breath only multiplied.

"You're damn right I am, son. This is my seat, me and my mates are here every night."

"And I care…because…?" Draco trails off daringly to the bald, scarred man. A few more men gather behind the man with his hand on Draco's shoulders and shoot him a look. Draco takes a moment to take a look at the man's 'friends'. All walking piles of muscles, probably with no brains whatsoever. Just the type he could enjoy burning the life out of.

"Because if you don't, we'll smash your fucking face in! Now, get off your arses!" The man growls to the calm Draco, his voice was a yell this time, causing the constant laughter and cheering to instantly die out.

Men place their mugs down onto their tables and allow their smiles to immediately vanish, hungry eyes span across the room, waiting for a fight to occur, for some sort of entertainment. No one seemed surprised. This was a regular event.

That didn't bother Draco though. If it was entertainment they wanted, then it was entertainment that they were going to get.

Ciel turns his head to take a good look at Draco's expression and realizes that he was actually going to fight. He shakes his head and gives Draco a serious glare.

"It's not worth it, Draco. Don't bother." The assassin whispers as a caution to his teammate, Draco looks back at Ciel and stares at him quietly for a few seconds before simply smiling.

"I'm sorry, but if this man truly has a death wish, I'm afraid I cannot help but comply."

"Draco,"

"Nope, I'm not gonna listen. I've got to teach this human a lesson." Draco says as he gives a short chuckle, he slowly gets out of his seat and smashes his mug onto his table, causing small spears of glass to disperse.

Ciel gets out his seat as well, placing his hand on Draco's shoulder in hopes of talking some sort of sense into the grinning fighter. Lu tugs on the assassin's hand as he stands up and shakes her head at him with a smile.

"Oh, come on. This is going to be so much fun, I want to see Draco teach the musclebrain some manners. Don't spoil the fun, will you?"

"But, Lu! He'll kill him!" Ciel whispers back worriedly to his master, Lu's smile only grows more.

"Exactly! That only makes in more exciting! We've been stuck in this building for so long now, and we've had literally _nothing _to do."

"Lu-!"

"Oh, please…? Pretty please? With cherries on top?" Lu sniffs, acting to be sad for the assassin, with her large and cute eyes.

Ciel hesitates and looks back at Draco, he was still smiling at the man about two times his side, cracking his knuckles and getting ready to beat the human into a little pulp. The assassin wanted to stop the fight before it started, but an order from Lu was absolute. Ciel sighs sadly and lowers his head. He couldn't believe he was actually going to let something like this happen.

"Fine, do what you want, Draco. Just one condition." Ciel whispers into his teammate's ear, Draco sighs and looks back at the assassin.

"Urgh, whatever…what's the condition?"

"No fire,"

Draco takes a step away from Ciel and stares at him in utter shock, he frowns angrily and growls.

"What?! How am I supposed to burn him to a crisp, then?!"

"You won't, you're not allowed too."

"What are you now? My parent?"

"Draco, I'm serious."

Draco glares silently at the assassin, directly into his eyes and snarls. He was looking forward to burning the man's flesh. The signs of anger and sadness were clear on his face. He stares for a few more moments before lowering his head in disappointment.

"You just want to take the fun out of everything." Draco mutters quietly and sadly, like a little child. He folds his arms and puffs up his cheeks. "Fine,"

The scarred, bald man standing in front of Draco begins to lose his patience, and the audience of the pub were already getting restless, they wanted to see some bloodshed. Some of the men get up from their seats and start to clap, trying to tempt and encourage Draco and his opponent. The bald man grins smugly and takes a gradual step closer to Draco.

"Enough chatting with your boyfriend, it's time for your beating." The man laughs over the chanting and cheering of the crowd. Draco only smiles at the man's insulting remark and shrugs his shoulders.

"So, how do you want to settle this? A good old fistfight?"

"Heh! Sounds good to me, shrimp!"

"Wonderful," Draco chuckles back to the bald man before throwing a quick punch right into the man's nose, Draco's opponent howls in agony as he holds it.

"Argh! You little shit!" The scarred, bald man hisses as he steps forward and swings twice, Draco watches the punches carefully and leans to both the left and the right, dodging both attacks swiftly. He smiles as the man's eyes widen, his opponent wasn't expecting Draco to actually be able to hold his own.

Draco leans to the left once more and throws three jabs straight into the man's stomach, before having to quickly step backwards as the man tries to punch with his right hand. Draco dodges the punch but has to stop the next one following up with the palm of his hand.

The bald man takes the opportunity of one of Draco's hands being full and hits Draco right in his gut. Draco gasps and then growls as he struggles to breath from the attack. He hisses angrily and punches the bald man in the head twice with his right arm, then makes use of his knee by jamming it into the bald man's chest. Draco's opponent coughs out a small drop of blood and rushes straight at Draco and grabs him, throwing him directly into one of the nearby tables.

Ciel sighs and lowers his head, Draco was taking the situation far too seriously, and they were both being extremely violent. He turns his head to Lu, standing silently next to him, and expects her expression to be the same frowning one as him but only sees excitement on her face. She looks at her servant and smiles at him cheekily, like she had just been given a lollipop.

"Hehehehe~! Go Draco~!" She chirps happily for her ally, Draco takes no notice of Lu's encouragement and gradually slides off the table he had collided with.

He holds his back with his right hand as he senses a stinging sensation from it, he felt surprised that an ordinary human was giving him trouble, he really was weak without his fire or his scythe. Without any of his weapons, he was just as strong as an adult human, or maybe only slightly stronger than that. He cackles to himself as he sees the fight as a challenge to see just how strong he was without his fire, he should at least be able to beat down a muscly human like the bald man charging at him.

Draco ducks swiftly as the bald man throws an aimless punch at his face and kicks him in a shin, his opponent quickly recovers from the kick and decides to do the same, only at Draco's face. Draco brings both of his hands close to his head and blocks the kick, but slides slightly across the ground from the force. The bald man rushes forward again, before Draco could get ready for a counter attack, and hits him in head with his heavy fist.

Draco wasn't a stranger to physical pain, but the punches stung like hell, and irritated him. He leans to the side after the fourth punch and dodges, taking this opportunity to punch the bald opponent several times in the rib, laughing in a crazed manner as he hears multiple bones breaking.

Draco finishes his opponent off by quickly grabbing the bald man by the head and smashing his skull into a nearby wall, the sound of the collision echoing throughout the bar. He smiles calmly as the bald man goes stiff and motionless, blood was trickling down his opponent's face and his mouth was gaped wide open even though he was unconscious.

Was he dead? Draco wasn't sure, and didn't really felt like caring either. He glares silently at his opponent's friends, the ones who were laughing and cheering for the bald man just a moment ago, and smiles as they had all gone as quiet as ever. They stare at Draco in utter awe before gulping down from the fear and returning to their seats. Draco wipes off the drops of blood here and there on his hands with a nearby tissue box and slides into his seat, next to Lu and Ciel.

The assassin shakes his head at Draco before drinking casually from his mug.

"That fight wasn't necessary,"

Draco hides his grin from behind his mug as he also places it onto his lips, he chuckles dryly under his breath and sips down the off-putting liquid.

"I know."


	58. No 52: The Rise of The Chaser

**Hello everyone!**

**Now, in the last "Author's Note", I informed you that the next chapter will have a full week delay. Well, I felt quite bad about that. A full week simply isn't fair, and it was mostly because of the other story I had started. But, I believe I should spend a lot of time on this story than that one, I'm not even sure if the other one I've started will even become successful!**

**I will be taking a short break after this chapter, but I'll be back real soon. So, hopefully this chapter will buy me some time.**

**And just for that occasion, I'm bringing you the longest chapter ever! Woop woop! C:**

**Special thanks to Fureou, Zahran, and BreadCrumble for following and favouriting~! It's wonderful to have you part of the family, welcome aboard! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

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Chung opens his eyes slowly and places his feet below him to proceed to lift himself off of the ground, it was rough and jagged, the Guardian felt lucky that the rocks on the ground hadn't ripped into his skin. He holds his bruised head and brushes his long, blonde hair out of his eyes. He felt like his head was about to explode, and his body in its entirety was a lot weaker than usual. The side effects of teleportation is what Chung predicted, he knew that the strange man in the mask had forcefully brought him here, so he was constantly on his toes, ready and prepared for whatever was going to be thrown at him. If that man wanted the Guardian to play his silly games, Chung wouldn't disappoint.

He eventually turns his head from side to side in order to check if anyone else was around, his surroundings were empty, dark and full of rocks and small boulders, probably a cave of sorts. The area and the atmosphere felt familiar to the Guardian though, almost like he had stumbled across this place once or two before. He squints his eyes carefully to try to see through the dark, he had vision and could see most of the things around him, but it was still limited thanks to the darkness. The cave looked to be huge, the ceiling was so high up it seemed like the sky itself to Chung since the rocks on the ceiling had a blue glow to them. He reloads his Destroyer and holds it close towards him, he had no idea when he would have to use it.

He couldn't feel it with his armour on, but considered the sounds of splashing every time he took a step through the massive cave, he noticed that there was plenty of water beneath his feet. It wasn't just a couple of tiny, shallow puddles either, it was probably slightly above his ankles. It wasn't enough water to slow down his movements, but the heavy armour itself was doing just that. Becoming the feared Paladin made him far stronger than he could ever imagine, but his new suit of armour and the long hair was lowering his fighting capability. The Destroyer had become heavy too, he used to be able to carry it like it was a feather, but now it was terribly difficult to swing it around wildly.

Chung places both of his hands near his mouth, as he drops his Destroyer onto the ground, and yells for his comrades at the top of his exhausted lungs.

"Elsword? Raven? Aisha? Rena? Anyone?!"

Nothing. Not a single sound from any of his friends. Just the quiet drops of water dripping from the ceiling and onto the ground below.

Chung takes another large step forward and senses himself losing balance as there's no more ground beneath him, he attempts to lean backwards in order not to fall but fails. He stumbles off a cliff he simply couldn't see properly and falls deep into the darkness below, he opens his mouth to scream but reaches the ground before he could do so.

It wasn't a long way down, and his armour had safely cushioned the fall for him. His long hair had landed straight onto his face and began to choke him, Chung pushes his hair away and regains his vision once more. He frantically checks his Destroyer to find any signs of damage to it such as a crack or a scratch, but the cannon was still as clean as a whistle. Chung cannot help but sigh in relief and raise his head to see where he had fallen into.

A quick gasp forces itself out of Chung's mouth and his eyes widen, he felt as though the cave he was just in was familiar, but now he was certain he had been here before, and where this place was. The large room was bright and he could see clearly now, there was no more water beneath him and the ceiling was even higher up. This area wasn't any cave, it was an underground arena. There was torches attached to walls to give light and training equipment, such as wooden staffs and more advanced weapons, were scattered across the ground. Some were broken but most of them were in good condition, he even spotted other Destroyers around him. They all had different designs than Chung's Destroyer, some were slim and looked like they didn't weigh as much as his, and others were even larger, but those seemed to be mostly broken.

Chung knew very well where he had ended up now, this was Hamel's underground training area, close to where his people would worship the holy ones. Once the Guardian closed his eyes he could easily recall the days when his father would bring him down here and train him until he could no longer stand, Chung would constantly practice his combat techniques with the wooden staffs, then he moved onto heavier weapons such as axes, and finally his father bestowed the Destroyer to him. If he was just an ordinary human, he wouldn't be able to carry such as heavy weapon, but he had been trained his entire life, the Destroyer didn't feel nearly as heavy as it should've to him.

The Guardian's faint smile quickly fades as he remembers that this place was just a fake, created by the man in the mask. Even the thought of that angered him, he couldn't believe that the strange man would actually dare to make a copy of such a sacred area.

"Alright, Glave! I'm ready! Throw whatever you've got at me! I'll play your silly little game and find my friends!" Chung roars at the sky, hoping that the masked man was watching him and listening to his words. He _had _to be, there was no way he would miss the show. The Guardian was certain that he was being watched at this very moment.

He would complete the challenge that the masked man had made him and see the soft and gentle faces of his friends once more.

A boulder drops down behind me, causing him to jump and turn himself around, something was entering the training grounds by force. It had to be a large demon to toss such a boulder to the side like that. Chung senses his heartbeat race, this was it. Whatever the demon was, he would have to kill it to leave this place. He takes a cautious step closer to get a better look at the demon as it growls quietly from behind a corner. The light was dim from the area in which the demon was entering at, and Chung could only see a dark silhouette as it walked over to him. Each step caused a mini earthquake beneath the Guardian's feet, and the dark, shadowy figure steps into the arena and shows itself.

It was humanoid, with its entire body covered with body armor, from head to toe. Its helmet had a strange expression drawn on it, and the demonic man was like a building to Chung. The man in the armour carries a massive, black Destroyer in his right hand, matching his dark armour, and slowly proceeds to lower his head to glare at the tiny Guardian from behind his helmet.

Chung feels a large amount of tears swell up in his eyes as he recognizes the man.

It was the Fallen Colossus.

"F-Father…!" Chung manages to whisper out of his paralysing shock, the Colossus says nothing to the boy and instead gradually begins to lift his Destroyer. He was getting into a battle stance in which to fight Chung with. Chung eventually starts to regain his composure in front of the demonic Colossus and gets into his own battle stance.

"No, you're not my father. You're just a copy made by Glave, I will destroy you here!" The Guardian roars angrily as he rushes forward to the massive figure.

He leaps up into the sky and rockets down at the Colossus, his Destroyer pointing down and bashing against the Colossus' thick armour. Chung's eyes widen as his attack doesn't leave a single mark on his father's armour, it was even stronger than his own. He snaps out of his worry and immediately continues his assault the moment he reaches the ground, the smacks the Colossus multiple times in hopes of seeing any signs of damage on him, but sees absolutely nothing. The Colossus doesn't utter a word and slams his Destroyer onto the Guardian, causing Chung to fly backwards while spinning uncontrollably. He collides painfully into a wall and slides down onto the ground.

He gasps for air and coughs weakly as he places his hands in front of him and lifts himself up. Just one glance at his armour was all Chung needed to realize that he was still weaker than his father, it was already cracked and falling apart, while the Colossus' armour didn't have a single mark on it. And just one hit was enough to send Chung flying across the arena, the Guardian shakes his head and tries his best to focus on the battle again.

"Urgh! How about this?! Land Demolisher, Heavy Arms!" Chung screams as he drives his cannon into the ground with all of his might. The resulting attack causes a miniature earthquake that shoots straight towards the Colossus.

The demonic Colossus watches the attack calmly and simply leaps over it before rushing at the Guardian, Chung senses nothing but the feeling of shock wash over him as he sees his father dart quickly towards him despite his ridiculous size. Chung holds his Destroyer helplessly in front of himself in hopes of it enduring most of the blow, but he still gets thrown into the air and across the training grounds by the sheer force of the hit.

The Guardian takes another look at his Destroyer, it had even more cracks on it. The cannon just simply couldn't withstand the extreme amount of strength of the Colossus' blows, and Chung knew that very well. Blocking the Colossus' attacks was absolutely out of the question for him. Chung takes in a deep breath and slides quickly to the side as his father attempts to squash him with his Destroyer, the Guardian raises his cannon to the sky and lands another four hits on the Colossus, with none of them doing any kind of damage. He backflips away from his father to create some distance before placing his Destroyer by his side and raising his head to the sky.

"Iron Howling, Sudden Burster!" Chung screams as he allows all of his anger blast out of his mouth and materialize into a blue shockwave, the Colossus staggers backwards, surprised as the shockwave pushes him forcefully away and freezes him in place.

The demonic Colossus groans and roars as his body becomes like stone, he attempts to move every part of himself, with absolutely no success. The Colossus gasps in shock as he recognizes the technique the Guardian had used, it was something he had taught Chung himself, or at least, the _original _Colossus did.

Chung takes the opportunity of the Colossus being paralysed to charge forward with his Destroyer and fire energy into his chest, causing a series of explosion that slowly bite into the Colossus' armour. The Colossus hisses and leaps backwards cautiously as he can move again, he raises his massive weapon and drops it onto the Guardian from above. Chung lifts his Destroyer and holds it above his head, just barely blocking the attack. More cracks appear on his weapon after the overwhelming power of the Colossus rips deeper into the outer shell of the cannon. Chung sides out from the side as the Colossus tries to crush him and glares angrily, the Destroyer was almost about to fall apart. He had no idea what to do, every time he would block with his Destroyer would break further and further, and he was too slow to just simply dodge the attacks.

"…I'm not…going to last much longer. I need to find some kind of weakness." Chung mutters weakly to himself as he watches his armour slowly tear off his body, he only had around half of it left. He ducks downwards as the Colossus swings his weapon, he had to figure something out fast.

"I guess I have no choice…Pain of-!" The Guardian yells out as he opens his mouth to create an even bigger shockwave, the Colossus emits a short chuckle uncharacteristically as he realizes what the boy was trying to attempt and slams Chung to the side with his much-heavier Destroyer. He raises his head upwards and roars furiously from inside his helmet.

The force of the red shockwave bursting out of him freezes Chung immediately in place the moment he gets back on his feet. His long hair flows crazily through the air in the duration of the roar, and his armour snaps off completely, leaving him with nothing but an ordinary shirt and shorts beneath. Chung stares silently in awe as the life of the shockwave comes to an end. Just one yell from his father was enough to destroy his suit of armour, something that no other enemy had ever achieved.

He eventually drops to his knees and watches with his tears in his eyes as the Colossus slowly makes his way to him, ready to finally squash the Guardian. He could feel the weight on him, the heavy weight of fear and sadness that all of the Hamel soldiers must have felt when being pitted against this monster of a man. The feeling of being powerless, of being an insect compared to his father. He thought that his defeat against his father would never happen again, and that the next time he'd stand against the Colossus, he would win.

Now he realized just how naive that was.

His eyes gradually rest on the massive man in his black armour, this was only a copy as well. How would he ever stand up to the real thing when he's going to be killed by just a fake? Chung lowers his head and closes his eyes, waiting for the final blow. The one that would finally put him out of his misery.

"_Hey, that's not the way you should be thinking, you know?"_

Chung's eyes quickly open as the soft voice in his head speaks in a serious tone to him, the Guardian turns his head frantically from side to side. Was there anyone else in the underground training area with him? No. Just the Colossus. Was the voice some kind of angel? Or was he going insane?

"_Insane? Of course you're not, you're as sane as can be, Chung." _The voice replies to the inner thoughts of the Guardian, Chung leaps worriedly to his feet and grabs his Destroyer.

"W-Who are you?" Chung stutters as he watches the Colossus slowly close in on him, the voice stays quiet for a few moments before responding.

"_My identity is simple, I'm the Guardian Stone. Or…should I say…'a' Guardian Stone? There are plenty of them."_

"The Guardian Stone is sentient? Are you conscious?"

"_That doesn't matter right now, dodge to your left and fall backwards." _The calm voice snaps quickly as a command as the Colossus raises his Destroyer to attack again.

Chung acts by instinct and rolls over to the left, dodging the black Destroyer as it lands to the ground, and leaps backwards to avoid a kick by the Colossus. The Guardian seems surprised himself as he evaded the attacks before even knowing them.

"_Don't get cocky, you're still ridiculously slow. And you have no armour on you, remember? Not to mention, your Destroyer is just hanging on by a thread."_

"What do I do? How should I keep fighting?"

"_Oh? Your fighting spirit is back? I thought just a second ago that you were just easily accepted your death by the hands of this fake."_

"I…I just couldn't-!"

"…_find the strength within you? Is that what you're going to say? Are you sure about that? Guardian Stones can adapt to any situation and make its owner powerful enough to overcome anything, but it requires the energy of the soul to do so. It's not that you're not strong enough, it's because you don't have faith in yourself."_

"This isn't about faith! I need power, I need all the strength you can give me!" Chung growls back angrily as he slides to the side to evade another of the Colossus' attacks, the Colossus takes no notice of the Guardian talking to himself in the middle of their battle and swings at him again.

Chung attempts to dodge this one as well but is far too slow to do so, he rolls to the right but notices the swing still coming at him. He had no choice. He had to block it with his Destroyer again.

The moment Chung lifts his cannon above him and allows the incoming attack collide with it, the Destroyer snaps in two and crumbles out of Chung's hand and onto the floor, its scattered pieces lying across the ground. The Guardian takes a sudden step backwards and stares at the unbelievable sight before his eyes, the weapon he had his whole life was laid right in front of him, shattered and beyond repair.

Chung tries to gasp, to form any kind of reaction, but nothing comes out. He couldn't muster anything anymore, the sight was simply too much for him. He stares quietly as the Colossus follows up from his blocked attack and bashes his weapon into Chung's entire body, the Guardian yelps in agony and flies across the area, colliding with yet another wall.

Chung shrieks at the top of his exhausted lungs the second he comes in contact with the wall, this time he had no armour at all to save him from most of the pain. But now, he felt it all. Bones snapping in his battered body, blood gushing out both internally and externally. He had never taken a serious hit without his armour, not once in his life, and the agony burning in him was absolutely unbearable. He cries out weakly as he slides off the wall he had collided with and falls back onto the ground. The rocks were cold beneath him, and the liquid he thought he was touching on the rocks wasn't underground water, but his own crimson-coloured blood. Chung wasn't used to seeing his own blood, and felt the urge to throw up, but he didn't have enough energy to even do that.

"_You're broken."_

"…"

"_You've fallen far deeper than you could have ever imagined, and now the things you cared about are being destroyed in front of you."_

"…"

"_The armour that Hamel gave you the moment you became a Guardian, and the Destroyer that was bestowed upon you by your proud father. All in pieces. What do you think will be next? Your most prizes possessions have already been taken from you. What else do you think they will take away from you to break you even more…?"_

"My friends," Chung admits weakly in a pained cough, the constant shaking on the ground caused Chung to wheeze slowly. Each mini earthquake was the Colossus taking another step closer to him, he didn't even bother to look up and check, he simply knew the Colossus was coming to end him.

"_Will you allow that?"_

"It's not…in my hands…anymore. I couldn't save them…even if I wanted to."

"_That's where your problem lies, Chung. Your faith. I will do my best to give you the power you desire, but you need to do your part. I am only a stone of energy, there's only so much I can do."_

"What…do you want me to do?"

"_Believe."_

Chung stares at the ground beneath him, stained in his own blood. He couldn't really explain what was happening to him, a tingling sensation was prickling in every part of his body. The pain was still there, but it no longer bothered him. On the contrary, it actually began to feel satisfying for him. This pain was good, it hurt him in a way that only made him have the urge to keep fighting, this pain was making him stronger. It was feeding determination to his soul, it was screaming at him to fight to the last second.

The Guardian places his weight back on his bruised legs and carefully lifts himself off the ground, he didn't feel any stronger, but his desire to wait for it all to end wasn't with him anymore. The chances were that he was still going to die, but if he was he didn't want it to be over by a pathetic surrender. No, his father would be disgusting like that. He'd fight until the very end, and if his destiny was to die here, so be it.

Chung's eyes quickly begin to scan the floor, taking in information of the weapons laid across the training grounds. He had practiced with every single one of these weapons at least once in his life, he knew how to operate each and every one of them.

"_Adapt to the conditions of the fight. Even if your own weapon is gone, it doesn't mean you cannot use the resources around you. Adapt, Chung."_

On cue, the Colossus stabs his Destroyer into the ground in hopes of crushing Chung with it, the Guardian sees the attack before it even happens and evades swiftly by sidestepping. He felt as light as a feather now, with no armour holding him down. He might not be able to take dangerous hits anymore, but his speed had been improved significantly. He couldn't attack the Colossus in this state, however, he needed to find something to harm him with. He drags his unarmoured hand across the floor and grabs a wooden staff, he rolls to the left as the Colossus fires a red missile at him.

Chung turns his head back to watch the explosion of the missile happen directly behind him before jumping up into the air and stabbing the sharp end of the staff straight into the demonic Colossus' helmet. Upon contact, the staff snaps in half and the Colossus quickly shakes Chung off of him. Chung composes himself in mid-air and lands safely back on the ground, backflipping backwards as the Colossus attempts to step on him. Chung scans the scattered weapons around him once more, trying desperately to find something to battle with.

"_Wood will break the moment you try to hit him with it, try to look for something made of something harder and tougher."_

An axe. The exact same one that he had noticed when he had entered the area, it was made of metal. Not nearly as tough as his once-was Destroyer, but it was far better than nothing. He darts over to it, while dodging another missile fired from the Colossus, and holds it firmly in his hands. It was heavy, but felt like a feather compared to a cannon. He rushes up to his opponent and cuts down at the Colossus' feet while holding the handle with both of his hands. The axe collides with the armour surrounding the feet of the Colossus, breaking slightly through it before breaking apart itself. Not a surprise to the Guardian in the least, he knew just how strong the material that Hamel's armour was made of. Something like metal couldn't hope to rival it, but it could at least hinder it slightly.

"_Look! There are some abandoned Destroyers just lying around, you noticed them yourself, right? At least a few of them still have to be operational."_

"Then I'll use them." Chung responds back simply as he tosses the broken axe aside and leans back to evade a punch from the Colossus. The voice of the Guardian Stone says nothing for a few moments before speaking slightly grimly.

"_However…as a Guardian Stone. I cannot accept just any Destroyer. It needs to be compatible with me, or else it'll be utterly useless and won't turn on no matter what."_

"A-Any good news?!" Chung yelps frantically as he almost gets crushed, the Colossus had attempted to grab him in his hands and squeeze the life out of him. The Guardian had only just barely dodged the grab of the massive hand.

"_Just one. If you're able to find a Destroyer that I am compatible with, I can use its material to recreate your armour. Keep in mind that the armour will reflect what the Destroyer is, so it'll be different from your normal armour."_

"As long as it protects me, it doesn't matter." Chung whispers to himself as he looks across the arena in hopes of finding the Destroyers. There it was, a brown one on his left. He rushes towards it and holds the handle in both of his hands.

He directs the cannon at the incoming Colossus and tries to fire a missile out of it, nothing happens. The brown Destroyer makes some strange, quiet noises before crumbling into pieces in Chung's hand. The Guardian Stone sighs anxiously as Chung quickly drops the broken cannon and searches for another one.

"_That one wasn't compatible with me, try to find a Destroyer that looked similar to your previous one. That should help."_

The Colossus raises his black Destroyer upwards and smashes it into the ground, just barely scrapping by the evading Guardian. Chung pants and wheezes as he runs around aimlessly, trying to find anything that would allow him to stand a chance.

A white one. It was sitting right in front of him, in terrible disrepair. It didn't look like it would work, and instead looking like it had been in the cave for many, many years. But Chung couldn't shake off the gut feeling that it was the one, he darts quickly at it and picks it up. It was extremely light compared to the other Destroyers, and was curiously shaped almost exactly like a rifle. With a stock, trigger and iron tip clearly visible on it. The Guardian Stone immediately becomes confused with the Guardian's choice.

"_Is this what you want to use? It's skinny…and feeble…and barely has any kind of firepower behind it. Not to mention, it isn't going to be able to hit enemies with the amount of force as you're used to."_

"Are you compatible with it?" Chung questions the Guardian Stone simply, ignoring its warning. The Guardian Stone stays silent for relatively five seconds before replying.

"_Surprisingly enough, yes."_

"Then make it _my _Destroyer, it'll work."

"_Very well,"_

Light glimmers out of the Guardian Stone attached to Chung and gradually begins to expand, Chung gasps suddenly as the sensation rushing through his blood starts to strangely tickle him. The blanket of blue light around him wraps itself around his bleeding body and forms into a white and blue suit of armour. The broken-down Destroyer in his hands begins to repair itself, each of its missing pieces appearing out of nowhere and falling into its correct place like a jigsaw puzzle, Chung holds onto the new handle of the Destroyer and moves it around a bit. The weight of this cannon wasn't even half the weight of his original one, and his armour was slim and thin, just enough to keep him protected while giving him an incredible amount of speed. **[Deadly Chaser Attire]**

"This is…amazing!" Chung blurts out quickly, the Guardian Stone hums in agreement.

"_Yes, the transformation worked a lot better than I anticipated. Also, it seems the suit of armour is trying to…give you something."_

"What is it?"

"_This," _The Guardian Stone informs as light glows in the palm of both of his hands, materializing into two silver pistols. Chung stares silently at them for a few moments, he had no idea that these weapons existed, but it felt so natural. Like it was seeing an old friend again. Had he seen this pistols before? He couldn't recall such a thing, but he knew that this pistols would come in great use. He raises his head and watches the slow Colossus step towards him. Chung simply grins and straps his new Destroyer behind his back, only keeping the pistols in his hands.

"This'll work just fine."

Chung waits calmly for the Colossus to jumps forward and swing his weapon around, the Guardian simply runs up to the attack and slips through, bypassing the blow and throwing the Colossus off. He leaps upwards onto the Colossus' large arm and races up it, leaning to both the left and the right as the Colossus begins to punch his own arm. Chung safely runs to the top of the large enemy's body and kicks the helmet covered and shielding the Colossus' head, then points his pistols forwards and fires multiple shots through the Colossus' armour as he falls back down to the ground. Every single shot, powered by the energy of the Guardian Stone, slices clean through the once-unbreakable armour, causing the Colossus to growl with agony.

Chung grabs his Destroyer off of his back the moment he reaches the ground and fires a large missile at the weakened Colossus, blasting through and destroying the chest plate. The Guardian watches the Colossus drop forcefully to its knees, Chung wanders up slowly to the fallen Colossus and carefully places the pistol in his right hand onto the front of the helmet. He turns his head the other way and pulls the trigger.

"Sayonara, you fake. Headshot." He whispers sadly as the energy from the pistol fires through the thick helmet, piercing through the head inside.

The Colossus stays still on its knees for a few moments before dropping down to the ground lifelessly. Chung wipes some of his own blood off of his lips and unsummons his two pistols, he walks the opposite way of the dead Colossus and doesn't dare to look back. Even though this Colossus was just a fake, he couldn't stand to see the sight of even a copy of his father being dead. He walks gradually away and picks up a knife laid on the ground.

He raises the knife close to his head and cuts off most of his long hair, living it to be short and messy. He liked his long hair, but it was burden to him in battle. Short hair was what he needed. He watches the lengthy strand of hair fall onto the wet ground below, before stepping on it to continue to walk.

"I didn't expect you to actually be able to do it." Glave's voice echoes grimly throughout the cave, Chung turns his head to either side to spot the masked man, but finds nothing. "Don't bother, I'm not in that cave with you. I'm watching from afar."

"I completed your challenge, let me go. Take me back to Elrios, and away from this fake world of yours."

"I know, I know. I'm a man of my word, I'll just send you back to your friends then teleport you all together back to-" Glave trails off suddenly, he goes dead silent. "Oh no." He whispers.

"'Oh no?' What happened? What's going on?!"

"I'm not quite sure myself…but there's something going awfully wrong with Elesis' and Ara's trial. I intended to only send one Dark Nephilim to them, but I think I've sent more…but why?! This something going wrong in the time-space continuum?! There's never been this kind of mistake before!"

Chung stomps his foot angrily on the ground and grits his teeth before roaring furiously at the masked man's voice.

"I can't just let them die! Send me there, now!"

"Woah, just who do you think you are, Chung? You cannot just order me arou-"

"I said…_NOW!" _Chung screams at the top of his lungs, Glave's eyes widen as he watches the Guardian from behind his screen at the continuum.

Glave didn't know what to do, the continuum was no longer listening to him. It was doing things all wrong. He didn't want Elesis and Ara to die, they still had so much potential. There wasn't any other option. He would have to send Chung to fix things.

"F-Fine! But don't blame me if the demons there pull you apart in seconds!" Glave yells back as he snaps his fingers and teleports the Guardian to Bethma.


	59. No 53: Fixing a Shattered Mind

**Hello~! Here's the next chapter!**

**This time I really will be taking a break, I feel tired and I need to prepare for the upcoming days at school. The break won't be very long, perhaps a week? Then I'll get back to work. I'll try to get the next chapter asap though, promise! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

Raven growls angrily at the wound on his left shoulder, almost as though he was telling it off. He was bleeding from many areas on his scarred body but he showed no signs of noticing it. He clenches his Nasod Arm's fist and slowly advances forward to Rena, who was trying desperately to catch her breath.

Rena slides cautiously to the right as Raven throws himself forward aimlessly, she kicks him twice in the gut before throwing him onto the ground with her two arms, hoping to have enough strength to hold him down long and try to talk some sense into him, but Raven hisses and immediately chucks her away before getting back onto his feet.

He was acting like a savage, only talking with grunts and roars like an animal at certain moments to her, causing Rena to wonder if there really was anything left of Raven in the monster that currently stood before her. Whatever the case was, however, she still intended to put an end to this mindless rampage of his.

Raven swings his robotic arm forward three times, missing the first two times but scratching into the Elf's skin the third and final time, causing her to yelp and leap backwards to make some distance. She points her bow and arrow at Raven and fires multiple shots into him, all landing a hit but doing nothing to slow him down. He smashes his fist into the ground and misses Rena by an inch, she raises her left foot and advances forward to him quickly.

"Sliding Double Kick!" She says as she slides under Raven and hits him from behind with two kicks, with the second kick launching him straight up into the air. Raven roars in pain as he's tossed up just to land into another attack from the Elf the moment he reached the ground. "High Kick!" She yells loudly as she thrusts her foot forward to Raven to execute a brutal high side kick reinforced with Nature energy to Raven's head, causing him to become terribly dizzy.

He wobbles around weakly, almost like he was drunk, and holds his injured skull. Rena hoped it would knock him out cold but he quickly shakes his head and snaps back into it. He shrieks a battle cry of his own and darts forward to grab her with his human arm, to keep her still.

"Armour Crash!" He growls as he punches Rena with his Nasod Arm, breaking apart whatever armour was resting on her, it falls in front of her feet like bread crumbs, she attempts to escape his powerful grip but fails, he was simply to strong in his current state.

He lifts her up with his one arm before smashing her brutally into the ground, causing her screams to echo throughout the forest in its entirety. Raven smiles with satisfaction of her screams of agony, he raises her up again and bashes her, head first, into a nearby tree. Blood gushes out of her forehead as she gasps and rolls weakly into the grass below her, her skull felt like it had been crushed and broken, and she couldn't find the strength to get back to her feet, she pants and wheezes desperately and watches helplessly as Raven reaches out his Nasod hand to grab her again, probably to find something else to smash her into.

She struggles furiously, wiggling frantically in his arms, trying to get loose. Raven grunts at her futile efforts and forces her to collide with another tree, more blood pours out of her as he does so, and her gurgling screams fill his ears. He drops her onto the ground once he believed that he was done with her. She didn't seem like she was going to put up any more of a fight, much to Raven's disappointment. He tosses her aside like a ragdoll and turns himself around to march the other way, to leave her to bleed out in the middle of the forest, but he stops immediately after his second step. He raises his head upwards and begins to sniff at the air, like a dog trying to find something. Raven growls as he realizes that he had picked up the scent of someone or something else in the forest.

"Another living being is here…I'll kill it!" He hisses as he starts to pick up the pace of his walking.

Rena's eyes widen as she remembers the only other people in the forest with them, Elsword and Aisha. They were the next targets for Raven, he would crush them the same way he crushed her. She couldn't let that happen. This fight was supposed to be her burden, no one else's. She coughs out a large drop of blood out of her mouth and places her hands onto the ground, using whatever strength was left in them to lift herself up. Her legs didn't feel like they had any more energy or strength, but she forced some into them. She wouldn't just lie there while Raven tried to hunt down her allies, she refused to. She picks up her small bow and directs it at the scarred man that was slowly getting away, she fires an arrow made purely from magic watches it burn Raven's back.

He roars in agony and turns around with an infuriated expression on his face and leaps quickly towards her with his Nasod Arm pointed out, he was going to try to grab her again and squeeze the life out of her, or whatever was left of it.

Rena stays calm as she watches the charging man and immediately aims with her bow and arrow again, this time the arrow collided directly with his head, throwing him off his feet and painfully onto the ground. The Elf closes her eyes and concentrates on her magic, allowing it to flow rapidly through her, she heaves a heavy sigh and begins to whisper.

"Please, Nature. Give me the power that is necessary to save my friends, give me the strength."

Green orbs materialize from nothing and hover in the air around her, spinning around the Elf in a perfect circle. Her ordinary clothes begin to glow and change form into a beautiful, white dress, with her tiny bow growing into a large, elegant one. **[Grand Archer Attire]**

"I'm sorry, Raven, but I will not allow you to go any further." She speaks quietly and politely as she raises her new arrow, Raven picks himself up and off of the ground and darts furiously towards her, only to be hit in his right knee with an arrow made of fire, and his left knee being frozen with one made of ice. He drops back down onto the floor and howls loudly at the sky. Rena cuts his cry halfway through by hitting him in the head once again with another arrow. "I know this is what the real Raven would have wanted, he would want me to protect our friends."

* * *

"Huhuhu~ Do you think she'll wake up~?" A high pitched voice giggles excitedly.

"I…I don't know, I can only hope," A deeper and normal voice sighs restlessly, this voice was familiar to the girl. She felt like it belonged to an old friend, she gradually opens her eyes to see a boy with red hair kneeling beside her, with a strange-looking bat next to him.

"Elsword…?" Aisha gasps as she coughs a few times, Elsword quickly nods his with a large, happy smile on his face. He holds out her arms and hugs her tight while also lifting her off of the ground. Tears gather up at the edge of his eyes and his hug tightens even further, causing the Mage to struggle for air. "Elsword…I can't…breathe…you're crushing me…"

Elsword eyes widen and he immediately lets go, the bat hovering beside him giggles again. The bat had a smug grin plastered across its small face, he slowly flies closer to Aisha and stares into her eyes.

"Hello, Elemental Master~. I've heard quite a bit about you, people talk about you all the time~!"

"Wait…you can talk? What are you?" Aisha questions as she sits up and feels her cold body feeling going warm again.

"Can't you tell~? I'm a bat~!" The bat answers back cheekily, Aisha rolls her eyes.

"Alright then, smarty-pants, who are you?"

"I thought a skilled Mage such as yourself would recognize me~! I'm Angkor, the legendary, demonic bat of the Underworld~!"

"Angkor?! The deal-maker?! Oh no…don't tell me that-!" Aisha yelps as she shuffles backwards and away from the grinning bat.

"Yep~ I saved your life~ Or, well…it was your friend here that summoned me, so I guess he's the one that actually saved you~."

"I really didn't do much, I just read one of the pages in your book and drew a summoning circle." Elsword says modestly to Aisha, she looks at him in shock and allows her mouth to fall wide open.

"Out of what? You don't have any charcoal!"

"Oh…I…err…" Elsword begins to stutter and hesitate, he turns his head the other way, unable to look at the girl. Angkor flies slightly higher into the air and points at the ground around her with its small head.

"Look around you and you'll see~"

Aisha gradually gets onto her feet, with the support of Elsword holding onto her shoulders, and slowly looks at the grass under her feet. The grass was stained red with blood, made in almost a perfect circle around where she was lying just a moment ago. She glances over to the silent Elsword standing beside her and notices the large, bleeding cut in the palm of his left hand, he attempts to cover it with his other hand but fails to. He stares with a weak smile at Aisha and rubs the back of his head.

"I…drew it with my own blood. It didn't take much…so there's no need to worry."

"Elsword-!" She gasps with tears in her eyes, she couldn't barely believe that he would go so far for him. Angkor the bat hovers close into her face with a wide grin on its face, interrupting her.

"He's quite the hero, to bring you back from the dead~ But as you know, I am a demon that makes contracts, your resurrection doesn't come without a price~ You'll have to listen and accept my terms without question if you want to stay alive~."

Aisha knew who the bat was and was aware that it wouldn't lie about something like this. She gulps down her own saliva anxiously and tries to regain her composure.

"Very well, I understand. What are your demands? What am I to do?"

"It's very simple, you'll have to wear the clothes that I want. No matter what they may be, are you ready?"

The moment Angkor asks that question to Aisha her body becomes wrapping in thick waves of darkness, breaking apart her clothes and replacing them behind the dark cloak covering her. The dark smoke eventually disappears to show a revealing, black outfit on Aisha that barely fit her. **[Void Princess Attire]**

"W-Woah…those kind of clothes are kinda…" Elsword trails off as he stares at Aisha with his mouth open, Aisha senses her face becoming red as she looked down at her new clothes. They were far too revealing for her, and showed off properly just how flat she was. She feels anger built up at Elsword as he doesn't take his eyes off of her, she raises her left hand and smacks him across the face.

"Don't look at me with your disgusting, perverted eyes!"

"I can't say that I blame your friend for staring~ You look wonderful in the attire I prepared for you, my princess~"

"Are you kidding?! It's ugly and shows off way too much!" Aisha protests, Angkor smiles happily at her, he would have shrugged his shoulders at her if he had any.

"Well, even if you don't like it, it's what you'll have to wear as part of our contract~ But don't fret~! There's some very nice perks for having me by your side~"

"Such as?"

"You now have an incredible amount of dark magic at your disposal, which might be slightly uncontrollable, but its highly destructive nature makes up for that~ Also, I'm skilled in the art of battle too, so you can summon me at any time to help you out~"

"Dark magic? I was always told by my teacher to never use it…but…"

"You're still alive, that's the most important thing." Elsword chuckles quietly, he rubs the cheek she had slapped and places his other hand on her shoulder. She could feel the comforting warmth of his large hand, she wasn't sure why she only noticed it now, but his touch quickly calmed her down. Almost as though nothing would go wrong.

"Yeah, thanks,"

The ground beneath them shakes rapidly, almost throwing both of them of their feet, Elsword holds tightly onto Aisha's hand so that she wouldn't fall and scans the area. He could see trees falling down in the distance, and the amount of trees collapsing was only growing. It also seemed to be getting closer, and both Aisha's and Elsword's eyes widen as they hear a faint, familiar cry of a women.

"Was that…?" Elsword mutters, Aisha grabs her new staff that was lying on the soft grass below and clenches it with both of her shivering hands.

"Rena! She's here with us, and she's in trouble!"

Elsword shake his head anxiously and sighs in a restless fashion before turning his head to Aisha with a serious look on his face.

"Aisha, can you fight?"

* * *

"S-Stay back! Humming Wind!" She commands Raven as she creates an explosion made entirely out of wind that pushes him back forcefully, he stabs his Nasod Arm into the ground as he falls backwards to stop himself and darts towards her again.

"Graaah! Hell Dive!" He shrieks as he reaches the Elf and attacks her twice with his Nasod Arm, ending it with a large explosion, tossing her onto the ground, she frantically gets back up to attack Raven again but gets interrupts by the time she gets to her knees. Raven grabs her viciously by the head and throws her to the side like she weighed nothing. He holds out of his blade and slices dangerously at her knees. "This'll stop you from moving around so damn much! Tendon Cut!"

"R-Raven-!" Rena speaks weakly as she attempts to stand up again, with the pain of doing so slowly biting into her. Raven's angered expression doesn't change and he stares quietly as her red blood drips off the edge of his blade, he tilts his head slightly to the side and raises an eyebrow to the liquid. He felt strange when he looked at it, especially when he knew it was hers. He clutches the sides of his head with both of his hands, both human and robot, and lowers it.

"What am I…doing…?" He whispers to himself, Rena unsummons the magical arrow she was creating and looks in disbelief.

"Raven? Can you hear me? It's Rena!" She cries out to him, he stares in confusion at the beautiful Elf before him and then down to his Nasod Arm, he stays motionless for a few seconds before shaking his head furiously.

"G-Get out…of my head!" He screams as he throws a punch at Rena, that she barely dodges, and grabs her by her shirt with his other hand. He lifts his up slightly and points out his blade to her neck. "J-Just…die!"

Rena quickly drops down and out of Raven's grip as a figure dashes up and hits into Raven's stomach with his or her head, causing Raven to growl in pain as the person throws him onto the ground and chokes the scarred man. Rena stares for a few seconds and recognizes the boy by the colour of his hair.

"Elsword!"

"Rena, get out of here. I'll take care of Raven, you don't need to be here to see this." Elsword barks at the Elf as he struggles to hold Raven down on the grass, he had to place all of his weight onto Raven to keep him in place.

A hand places itself on Rena's shoulders, causing her to turn around and see her friend, Aisha. But she looked far more different than before, and her expression seemed strange to her. Aisha nods her head slowly to Rena.

"Let Elsword and I handle this, we both know you don't want to the one to…end Raven."

"No, maybe we can still bring him back! Perhaps it's still possible!" Rena protests to the Mage, Aisha nods again, this time with agreement with the Elf, and stares at her reassuringly.

"I promise, if there's a way we can bring Raven's mind back, we will. Killing him will only be the last resort."

"Does Elsword have a plan to make Raven snap out of it?"

"He said he'd just beat the sense into Raven, with our help as backup."

A small smile appears on both of their faces, Rena raises her bow and charges up an arrow to assist Elsword with.

"That sure sounds like him," Rena says in a tone that could almost be considered a chuckle before she puts on her battle face and begins to aim, Aisha holds out her staff and starts to charge up her magic.

"Aisha, keep hitting him whenever I'm not to give me some distance with him, and Rena, shoot him if he gets to close. Just be careful that he doesn't-!" Elsword sends out commands to the two allies behind him, but stops halfway through his warning as he cannot hold down Raven anymore. Raven kicks Elsword off and roars like an animal to him.

"I'll kill you all!"

"No, you won't. Not on my watch, Raven. I'll bring the real you back soon, I'm sure a few hits to that skull of yours will do the trick." He snickers again like his usual self, Raven rushes towards him and swings his blade around a few times. Elsword dodges each slash with ease and pushes Raven away with his left hand.

Rena notices Elsword struggling as Raven closed in on him, Elsword needed some space to cast his spells and to watch Raven's moves carefully. The green-haired Elf takes in a deep breath and aims her bow carefully, if her aim was even slightly off, it had the risk of hitting Elsword instead, and he was practically their only hope right now. The pressure squeeze down on Rena but she tries her best to ignore it and fires a magical arrow.

It directly hits Raven's forehead, causing him to slide back slightly thanks to the recoil, and Elsword takes the opportunity to run forward and attack.

"Splash Explosion!" He yells loudly, a yellow run appears on Raven's chest and expands, causing a painful explosion. Aisha senses her magical charging finally finishing, she raises her black staff to the sky before pointing it at Raven.

"Time to see what these new powers can do, Plasma Cutter!" She speaks to herself, she waits until Elsword notices the attack and leans backwards safely before firing several laser beams out of her fingertips. Raven hisses angrily as the beams slowly begin to burn his flesh upon contact, he attempts to move away from them but gets hit in the chest by another of Rena's arrows.

"I don't think so, Luna Blade!" He shouts confidently as he summons a giant sword made entirely out of ice and fires it directly downwards onto Raven, stopping his attempt at escaping their endless barrage of attacks.

Raven spits out a large amount of his own blood out of his mouth and drops weakly to his knees. He stood a chance at killing them if he was fighting them one by one, but battling all three of them at once was far too much for him, and he could sense the heat in his Nasod Arm burning up. He lowers his head and allows his silver blade to drop out of his human hand while kneeling down in front of his enemies. Elsword stares quietly for a few seconds at Raven before placing his sword behind his back and sighing in relief.

"It doesn't look like he can take anymore, now we can just-"

Raven grins crazily as he sees his chance from Elsword lowering his guard, he leaps quickly to his feet and wraps the fingers of his Nasod Arm around his throat, squeezing down on it and watching happily as Elsword emitting his gurgling sounds of choking.

Rena and Aisha stare in shock and both take a quick step forward, fearing for Elsword's safety, the noise made by his choking gradually torturing them. They couldn't attack Raven either, he could snap Elsword's neck at any moment he wanted to now, and the two girls knew that all too well. They drop their weapons and feel their hearts slowly start to stop beating, Elsword was dying right in front of their eyes.

"Raven, please don't! You're killing him, stop it!" Aisha barks at Raven, the scarred man turns his head to glance at them for a second before directing his attention back to the Knight that he was choking the life out of, the others didn't matter to him at the moment.

"I beg of you, Raven. Don't do this. You'll kill Elsword, and never be able to forgive yourself. He's your friend, we all are, and we want you to come back to us…I want you to…come back to _me, _Raven!" Rena speaks quietly to Raven, she was expressing her feelings to him the best way that she could, hoping Raven would return them and realize who he was. Raven lowers his head as the sounds of choking come from Elsword eventually start to quiet down, he wasn't going to last much longer.

Elsword gasps and coughs as he struggles desperately for air, he opens his mouth and gradually forces out his own words.

"I'm…sorry…Raven! I…promised…to stop…you…when this happened! But…I just couldn't….bring myself to do it…! Raven…you were trying to stop…yourself from becoming…the mindless killer you were before… but you're becoming that person again…! Please…remember who…_the real Raven was!" _Elsword shrieks over the agony of being choked, Raven's eyes widen and he gasps.

He lets go of his grip around Elsword's neck and watches him as he wheezes weakly and catches his breath. He raises his Nasod Arm and stares at it with tears in his eyes. He didn't know where he was, he didn't know how he got here.

He didn't know who he was anymore.

Raven takes a slow step backwards from Rena and Aisha who were watching him from afar, and Elsword, who was on his knees and barely alive. He shakes his head in disbelief and holds out his hands to Rena, who was walking towards him, to stop her.

"Get away from me, Rena. I'm too dangerous, I'm not myself." He commands her as he takes a couple more steps away, Rena stops in place, his expression gave away how he felt. He was lost, and broken.

"Elsword, are you alright?!" Aisha screams out as a frantic question as she rushes out of the bush she was kneeling behind and holds Elsword by the shoulders, Elsword nods his head slowly and musters a smile.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"You almost died…"

"Heh, you thought I was gonna die from just that…? It'll take a whole lot more. Don't blame yourself for anything, Raven. We don't blame you in the least."

"But I hurt you…I hurt all of you! I…I'm a monster…!"

"No, you're not. You just need your friends by your side, don't you see that? You were brought back to your senses once you heard our words, that arm of yours can never fully take over you."

"But still…I…I-!"

"No buts, just calm down." Rena whispers sweetly to Raven as she approaches him calmly and rests her head on his shoulder. He breathes heavily and turns his head the other way, he couldn't bear to look face to face with Elsword, the boy he tried to suffocate.

Elsword gradually has his strength return to his legs, he stands back on his feet and ends his series of coughing. He places his hand on his chest, he knew he had lied to Raven saying that he wasn't going to die there, but he knew the truth and he could guess that Raven did too. If Raven hadn't remembered just who he was, Elsword's life would have ended there. Still, Aisha and Rena seemed to believe Elsword's lie, so he decided against talking about it any further, they didn't need to know the trouble he truly was in while fighting Raven.

He straightens his laid-back and casual attire and glances at the dazed Raven in front of him, he had become far taller and his hair had gone partially white, for a reason that Elsword simply couldn't understand. The Nasod Arm looked incredibly different too, as though it had come to life with all of its new flesh and muscles sticking out of it. It was no longer the mechanical arm that Elsword was familiar with, it was something completely different.

"So, who did this to you?" Elsword questions the scarred man who was still in shock, Raven decides to turn himself to face Elsword but still fails to look at him directly in the eyes as he speaks.

"Glave," Raven answers simply, Aisha lowers her head angrily.

"I knew it, that sneaky little-"

"We're all safe and sound, that's what's important right now." Rena cuts Aisha off as she had prepared a foul word to say about the masked man, Raven nods slowly and effortlessly.

"Yes…"

"Now we have to pray for the safe return of the rest of our team,"

"I'm sure they're fine, I don't just pick _anyone _to join my team. They're all super skilled, there's no way they won't do well." Elsword giggles in his usual way, much to Aisha's annoyance, which commands the response of an eye roll from her.

"Your team? You wish."

"What did you say?! I'll have you know that I'm the right captain and-!"

Blue light glimmers majestically from under their feet with miniature cubes suddenly circling around them, slowly lifting them off their feet. The light grow brighter and brighter, gradually consuming all four of them. A snort could briefly be heard, probably from Glave, before they start to disappear, each body part taking time to vanish. Elsword grins at his surprised teammates and winks.

"Looks like we all completed our trials, huh? Time to get outta this weird place."

"Glave will have to pay," Raven hisses hatefully to the memory of the masked man, Aisha nods in agreement.

"He will, one day."

Everything around them begins to fade to white, the green forest dematerializing into nothingness. Aisha loses sight of Raven and Rena as they disappear and looks over to Elsword that was hovering beside her.

"We're going back to our own world," She sighs happily, Elsword grins at her as he gradually begins to disappear before her eyes too.

"Uh, huh."

Aisha clenches her fists and tenses up, ready to teleport alongside Elsword, she glances over to him one more time and notices a familiar-looking tattoo on his left arm.

"What's that on your arm? The number three…?"

"Yeah, it's a timer."

"A timer? Just what ends after the timer?"

Elsword turns his head away, unable to look back at the curious girl floating next to him. He gulps down his own saliva and lowers his head, he couldn't hide the truth from her forever, Angkor the demon would most likely just tell her later on. He'd rather that he told her than that demonic bat. He senses his heart race uncontrollably as he opens his mouth and reveals what the countdown of the timer was going to end at.

"**My life,"**

Aisha feels a shock throughout her body, like a blast of electricity, as he whispers his answer. She opens her mouth to ask just what he meant by that, but gets interrupted as they both teleport away.

Elsword's sad face was burned permanently into Aisha's mind as he fades away along with everything around her. She wants to cry out his name even though he was gone, but the words don't form as she also fades, from existence.


	60. Author Notification

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all, Zacaro here again...and I've got some bad news.**

**Now, I know that in the last chapter I informed you that I would be taking a week off, however I have to tell you again now that I need another week's break.**

**I know, waiting another 7 days for the chapter is simply unfair, and I ****_really _****don't want to take another week off, but I just can't handle the new lifestyle I'm currently going through.**

**Moving to a new country and a new school...AND working on another story/one-shots has just taken way too much out of me. I want to get to this story immediately, but I still need a bit more time to adjust and get things sorted.**

**I truly have to apologize to you with all my heart, this really isn't fair on you and I'm so sorry about it. I promise after the next seven days of break I'll be taking from now, this story will come back with a bang.**

**Hopefully, I won't have to delay the next chapter even further than another week, in fact...I'm ****_praying _****that it doesn't happen.I also have a couple of people to give special thanks to in the next chapter, and I'll be sure to thank you with all of my heart! C:**

**Until next time,**

**Zacaro.**


	61. No 53 (Filler): The Eyes of a Madman

**Hello, I'm back again!**

**This isn't _really _chapter 54, it's more of a filler for that upcoming chapter so that's what I've called it. It's basically to wrap up the trials of the time-space continuum...and to hint to future events... ;)**

**Now, I did state that characters will go from class-to-class gradually over time, but some will change later than others. Elesis and Ara will NOT be changing just yet, as the story demands that they don't right now, but I won't say anymore, as I'll probably give the story away!**

**There are/have been a few changes to the story as well, and I wish to inform you about it. Firstly, on a less important note, the title of the story is going to be changed to simply: "The Demonic Duo", as the LuCiel part of the title seems unnecessary. And secondly, on a MUCH more important note, this story will be going under a rewrite.**

**No, I won't be changing the story significantly. In fact, the only rewrites are going to be on the first three chapters, as I feel that they don't properly represent what the story is about, and readers need to get a good idea of what it is before reading it, right? I don't have a confirmed schedule for the rewrites, but if you notice changes on the first couple of chapters of this story, you know what's going on.**

**This is the first time I've made a filler, but I seriously need to in order for chapter 54 to make sense. And don't worry, the next chapter is going to be HUGE, so please excuse this short one.**

**Phew...now finally, special thanks to ChillGuyFawkes, Solera, legok2007 and Novachrono for following/favouriting~! You're simply amazing and it means SO much to me, thank you again and welcome to the family! C: **

**And thanks to Novachrono for also placing me as a favourite author, I'm honoured and I really just can't thank you enough.**

**Also, I want to reply to some reviews:**

**To Solera, I understand that you may not have enjoyed my portrayal of Add, many people have already told me about that. However, I'm afraid I don't plan on making him any less 'insane', even if he is a mastermind now. I truly understand what you're saying, but I simply feel as though Add loses his charm and becomes a boring plain character if he doesn't act crazed. Still, thank you for your feedback!**

**And to SolarCorona, thank you so much for the support. I can't begin to describe how much it means, thanks man. You overrate this story with your support, I don't deserve such friendly readers on my story, but I'll try my best to make this story the best it can be! C:**

**Geezus, that's the longest intro I've had so far. Sorry about that, please enjoy this filler while I work on the next chapter! C:**

* * *

Chung opens his eyes and gasps as his eyes are almost burnt by the sudden sunlight bursting through the sky. His boots were slowly sinking into the sand beneath him and he was already beginning to sweat. There was no doubt about it, he had been teleported to Glave's copy of Bethma.

He turns his head to the sound of an explosion and notices a giant creature walking on all-fours with no eyes, and a terrifying aura. Chung takes a small step backwards as his heart quickly begins to beat even faster, just staring at it was enough to scare you out of your wits.

"S-So, _that's _the Dark Nephilim?" He mutters quietly to himself, as his eyes catch another one walking slowly behind it.

"Hey, you!" A voice shouts at the Guardian, he turns around again to the sound of the voice but crashes into the ground as a heavy punch lands onto his face. He places his hand on the bruised area of his cheek and looks up to see Elesis. He starts to smile and hold a hand out but stops the moment he sees her raise her Claymore at him threateningly. "Don't. Move."

"Wha-? Elesis, it's me!"

"Yeah, right. How can we know that for sure? For all we know, you could be another object Glave created in this world."

"You think I'm a fake?"

Ara walks weakly behind Elesis with her spear just barely within her hand, she was limping terribly and her face was cut up.

"Elesis, the Nephilims are coming back around. They're going to spot us again soon, we should-" She begins to report to Elesis but stops with a gasp as she notices Chung lying on the ground. "Chung!"

"Don't get near him, Ara. He could be some sort of trick from Glave. Just look at him, he looks completely different."

"Ara, Elesis. It's me, I swear it. I look different because my Guardian Stone forced my armour to evolve."

Elesis raises an eyebrow and glares at him silently, she looked terrible. Her skin had been slashed all over and her Claymore had a large crack at the end of it, and Ara didn't look good either. Both of their eyes showed Chung just how tired yet restless they were, their fight had obviously dragged on for much longer than his. Ara taps Elesis' shoulder quickly as the ground starts to shake underneath them.

"Whatever the case is, we need to find some cover. They're going to attack again soon!"

"L-Let me help! I've gotten a lot stronger after my trial, let me assist you in completing yours!"

Elesis turns over to Ara and tries to get a silent response from her, Ara says nothing but shows how she feels with the expression on her face. Chung could see worry and uncertainty plastered all over her face, she really wasn't sure what to believe in and what not to. Eventually she nods her head and grips her spear carefully in her left hand.

"We really don't have a choice or any time to think this over, just let him fight."

"Fine,"

Chung sighs a breath of relief as he watches Elesis hold her sword away from his throat. She offers a hand to lift him off the ground with and Chung happily accepts it, her arms were incredibly strong and firm. He couldn't help but admire her for that, Ara was strong too but only in her skills of spear-wielding, but Elesis was well built in her arms and legs, and the aura projected around her was similar to the one his father had.

Chung takes a cautious step back, the Dark Nephilims had turned their heads in their direction and had noticed the small group of fighters. One of them had spikes all over its back, and the other one had metallic shields scattered along its large body. They both looked injured but still ready to rip a human apart in matter of seconds, Elesis is the first person to charge forward after the first Nephilim roars.

"They can't take much more damage, keeping attacking the heads! All we need to do is last longer than them!"

"Right!" Chung shouts in agreement as he follows behind her.

"I'll try my best!" Ara replies after a long delay and taps her hairpin. It begins to glow and Eun senses it.

"_Yes?" _The demonic fox responds to Ara.

"How much more do you think you can heal me?"

"_Don't want to bring you down, but I'm almost completely out of energy for healing, I might be able to fix up another cut or two, but that's it."_

"O-Oh…" Ara mutters, obviously discouraged as she stares at the massive demons crawling her way.

"_But, if you decide to use that hidden technique-"_

"No, I'm not using that."

"_Suit yourself," _

Elesis leaps into the air and hits the spiked Nephilim in the head with her right foot, while Chung fires magical bullets at the shielded one from afar. Both Dark Nephilims growl in agony and attempt to step on them, Chung rolls to the side and Elesis slashes brutally at the feet trying to land on her, the Guardian felt surprised and strange about just how easy it was to dodge attacks now.

He felt so free with the light armour he was now wearing, and he backflips swiftly out of the way as the shielded Nephilim, the one he was fighting while Elesis took the spiked one, and chuckles happily under his breath as he observes the burnt ground he had just dodged. That could have been him, reduced to ashes, but his speed saved him. He loved the sensation of speed, most likely since he had never really felt it before. He had been wearing the heavy armour his father gave him for as long as he could remember.

"Chung, throw me your pistol!" Elesis commands as she holds her sword in front of her face and allows a purple lazer to deflect dangerously off of it. Chung felt uncertain at first about doing so, but eventually tosses one of the silver shooters to her after she calls out his name again.

Elesis jumps desperately out of the way as the spiked Nephilim opens its mouth and scoops up a large chunk of the earth in it, attempting to swallow her whole. She just barely catches the pistol on the top of her fingertips and lets it slide into the palm of her head. It felt ridiculously light for a weapon to her, and its weight even made her wonder if it worked, but the moment she pulls the trigger her doubt washes away. A magical, blue bullet barrels out of the pistol and pierces through a small part of the spiked Nephilim's skull, it would have killed an ordinary human, but the demon quickly begins to shake it off.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere. Juggernaut Buster!" She roars as she darts over to the falling-over Nephilim and raises her Claymore up into the sky.

A large, red storm generates at the tip of her sword that drags the spiked Nephilim closer to her, she then spins around her sword to attack the demon multiple times and ends it with strong strike to the mouth. She watches the Nephilim hiss a few times and back away carefully, she prepares herself to throw Chung's pistol back to him but it dematerializes in her hand and reappears into his.

"Y-You can do that?"

"Yep,"

"How?"

"Magic? The mysterious energy of the Guardian Stone? I really don't know, to be honest."

Chung's opponent, the shielded Nephilim, swipes its arms at him a couple of times, with Chung avoiding them cautiously, waiting for the perfect time to strike. He holds a silver shooter in his left hand and his Destroyer in the other, occasionally firing a missile or bullet when he saw fit.

"Leg Shot!" He yells as he fires a concentrated shot from his silver shooter, hitting into the leg of the shielded Nephilim, but to no avail. That technique was only useful against enemies with thin legs like humans, to a demon so large it didn't do a single thing. "Darn it, Rumble Shot!"

Chung gets thrown back slightly from the force of his own attack as multiple explosions blast out of his Destroyer and erupt across the ground, injuring the Nephilim's right foot, and causing it to roar uncontrollably. Elesis takes a step back as another lazer is released from the mouth of the Nephilim she's fighting and smiles at Chung, impressed.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Chung! We should spar sometime!" She giggles as she hacks off a toe of the spiked Nephilim, Chung blocks a concentrated beam from the shielded Nephilim before replying.

"It would be an honour, but maybe we should think more about surviving this battle first?"

"Heh, I suppose you're right. Unlimited Blade!" She chuckles after coughing out a drop of her own blood, she dashes forward to the chest of the spiked Nephilim and begins a brutal rampage of attacks, relentlessly slashing away from all sides, and grins confidently as her opponent starts to shriek from the pain.

"Steel Edge!" Chung growls as he throws his Destroyer forward and releases a compressed, blue explosion that burns off a piece of the shielded Nephilim's flesh, the Nephilim swings its tail at him again, but the Guardian simply leaps over it and unleashes a barrage of magical bullets out of his silver shooters.

"Let's bring these beasts down to our level! Saber, Extinction! Sword of Judgment!" Elesis exclaims as she drives her sword downwards at the spiked Nephilim's head and slashes a red aura at it that holds the demon in place, she then grips her Claymore as firmly as she can and strikes down into the Nephilim's forehead, allowing her sword to be engulfed in fire and sizzle the beast's skin.

"Ara, give me some backup!" Chung requests of the martial artist, Ara listens without question and rushes forward.

"Dragon Stance Two, Pulling Thrust!" She chants as she thrusts her spear forward and knocks one of the shielded Nephilim's feet over to the side, causing the Nephilim to struggle to keep balance.

"Good work, Pain of Caladbolg!" Chung roars loudly, sonic waves are released out of the Guardian's mouth and begins to pierce into the two Nephilims' minds, causing them unimaginable pain. Elesis cuts two toes off of the spiked Nephilim before turning around to Ara with a smile.

"This looks like the final stretch, hit it with everything you've got, Ara!" Elesis laughs, thinking that the fight was almost over.

"Right, Tiger Stance Four, Raging Wave!" She shouts back as she stabs her spear into the earth below her and fractures the ground with a powerful explosion, hitting the shielded Nephilim that Chung was fighting.

The shielded Nephilim immediately counter attacks by slamming Ara away with its tail, causing Chung to cry out her name worriedly and rush towards her, leaving himself wide open.

"Ara! Are you alright!"

"Chung, look ou-!" Elesis attempts to warn the Guardian but she says it a moment too late, she cannot do anything but watch as the shielded Nephilim bashes into Chung's light armour with one of its giant feet.

Chung wheezes weakly as the force sends him flying across the ground and to Ara's side, the martial artist gets up and holds Chung close to herself as he becomes almost completely motionless.

"C-Chung! Chung, please open your eyes!" Ara pleads the Guardian, and tears run down her cut cheeks as he gives no response, lying quietly in her arms.

"Darn it, he's not dead, is he?" Elesis yells to Ara as she just barely slides past another lazer blasting by the spiked Nephilim. Ara places her index and middles fingers onto his neck and checks for a pulse.

"No, I can feel his pulse! He's just been knocked out!" Ara replies loudly with the sound of relief clearly present in her tone. Elesis, on the other hand, frowns anxiously.

"We were doing so well! Dammit! Ara, we'll have to change the strategy! You're no longer supporting, take the second Nephilim! I'll try my best to hold off the spiked one the best I ca-!" Elesis begins to report back to Ara but gets interrupted by her own scream of agony as one of the smaller lazers pierce through her left shoulder and hits her shoulder blade, the red-haired Knight tries her best to close her mouth and not show how much pain she was experiencing in front of her allies, but ultimately fails. The cry bursts out of her and seemingly echoes throughout the entire desert.

Ara momentarily starts to get up from her kneeling position to run to Elesis' side, but stops when Chung's eyes slowly begin to open. She holds him tighter and cries even more.

"Chung! You're awake! Please, you've got to help Elesis. She's not going to last much longer!"

The Guardian coughs a few times and doesn't lift himself up, and continues to lie down on the sand and dust beneath him, he slowly turns his head to the struggling Knight and musters a whisper to Ara.

"Ara…I can't…feel my legs…" He admits to her in a sad tone. That causes her to immediately snap. She couldn't take it anymore. She would have to use that technique, to use the forbidden power of her family.

"_Looks like you've finally given in to reason?" _Eun asks her smugly, Ara lets go of Chung and stands up firmly, she strides to Elesis and the two Nephilims gradually making their way towards her

"I have to save my friends, I can't watch them die."

"_Good. Now then, become the Yama-!" _ Eun starts to cheer out happily to Ara, but becomes interrupted as the sound of a mirror cracking rings in her ears the moment she reaches Elesis, who was still holding onto her injured arm.

A purple distortion spreads from above, ripping through the fabric of space in the sky, and releasing someone out of it. Someone with black armour covering him or her from head-to-toe, the person cackles sinisterly and flies swiftly in the air, hovering on some kind of machine. As the person flew closer and closer to them, and to the Nephilims, Ara could make out a grown man with white hair and dark eyes.

The laughing man rockets on his machines over to the colossal demons and smashes his right fist directly into their large heads, with a ridiculously-sized explosion the moment his hand came into contact with them. He hovers over to the left as the shielded Nephilim fires a lazer out of its mouth and he leans slightly on his flying machines as the spiked one attempts to eat him with its massive jaw.

The man covered in black armour flies calmly forward and snaps his fingers to summon a large, white crack in the sky that releases multiple balls of compressed energy.

"Stardust Shower!" The man booms excitedly as he watches the spheres falling out of the crack tear and blow of the flesh of the two Nephilims, and then destroy all of the muscles inside, until there was nothing left of them expect for a few pieces of bones sitting on the sand.

The downed Chung, the injured Elesis, and the terrified Ara all stare in utter awe at the flying man. Ara drops her spear and an impressed remark from Eun as she rushes over to the man. He eventually hovers closer to the ground and glares silently at Ara, through his black scleras and purple pupils. Ara's heart almost fails to beat for a second as the face becomes familiar to her. It wasn't exactly the same, but it was close enough for the godly man to appear like someone she knew. He sits down on his flying machines and, after a long time of just looking at her with a blank expression, he grins devilishly at her.

"Hello, Ara." He chuckles in a friendly manner.

His voice, this man's voice. Ara was certain now, this man was exactly who he looked like.

This man was Add.

"A-Add…?" She gasps back quietly to him, and the moment the man covered in black armour heard that name, his smile fades and he snaps his fingers once more.

Ara's eyes flinch, expecting some sort of attack to hit her and her injured friends the second he snapped those fingers, but instead another distortion in space opens up beside the hovering man and he gradually slides inside of it.

And for the last moment she could see the man as he disappeared into the black void, she could only see two things staring right back at her.

She senses herself begin to lose balance and a shiver slip up her spine as the last thing she sees of the man are his eyes.

Light curls around her and her silent allies, with Glave's voice congratulating them for passing their trials, while blabbering about taking them back to the others, or something similar to that. They all begin to float gracefully into the air, and slowly begin to teleport back to the world of Elrios. Glave's words gradually begin to die out as none of fighters reply to him, he knew something was wrong, and his congratulating fades away. The masked man didn't know why they weren't saying anything to him, but he doesn't question it and proceeds to send them back to their own world.

Elesis, Chung, and Ara were dead quiet. They couldn't muster a single word, for they all saw those eyes. The eyes that would forever be burnt into their memory and haunt them in their sleep. The eyes that pierced through their bodies and squeezed tightly on their souls. The eyes that they knew, by instinct, they would see again.

Those desolate, empty, hateful eyes.


	62. No 54: Awaiting Death

**Hello~! How are you? Ready for chapter 54?**

**Haha, I've delayed this chapter for quite a bit, even making a filler to buy me some time. But no more! It's all here, I promise!**

**And I've noticed that the focus hasn't been on Lu/Ciel for quite some time now, even though the story is based around them, so there's gonna be some moar Lu/Ciel goodness coming up soon! C:**

**Also, thank you SO much for your wonderful feedback in the reviews, each and everyone of you is awesome and your amazing support is what keeps this story alive, and I just can't thank you enough for it!**

**But that also means I have very big shoes to fill to keep this story just the way you like it...the pressure...it's...it's too much! Ack! **

**(Dies of a heartattack.)**

**Hehe, I'm only joking, but to compensate for taking so long, I've made this chapter the longest one to date, so get ready!**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

**NOTE: I've made a one-shot on a game called 'Yandere Simulator', if you've heard of it and/or interested, check it out! C:**

* * *

The breeze was calm and peaceful as it flowed through Ciel's blue hair. He loved the sensation, and he wished he could feel it all the time. He stares down to the sights below the hill he was standing on, so many tiny farms and army camps. He couldn't tell if he was in a village or military camp, it was hard to say. The outskirts of Velder were definitely new to him, but the good kind of new, he thought.

Striking a deal with the people of Velder to give them a house on a hill, just barely outside of town, was incredibly easy after they saved them all. The house at the top of the hill was small, but the sights that it provided were exquisite, especially at the moment of sunset. It was only morning now, however, so he was going to have to wait if he wanted to see that view of the sun setting elegantly over the horizon again.

Ciel had gotten into the habit of taking morning strolls around their new house on the hill, he had invited Lu to join him many times but she would immediately turn him down and ask for more food, and Draco would simply snort at the invitation, thinking it as ridiculous. Ciel didn't understand why the two of them didn't see the beauty of this hill that he did, but he didn't really ever choose to dwell on it, everyone was different.

Ciel goes to the right pocket in his trousers and reaches down inside to hold out one of his throwing knives. It was sharp yet very slim, good for being aerodynamic, and it didn't weigh much at all. He was going to have to use these things again soon, he hadn't been in a fight for a month now, he had already started to lose his fighting spirit.

He wasn't used to taken such long periods of time to simply sit around and do nothing, he worried that he had already gotten rusty. He didn't have to worry about the others though. Lu, as a demon, never needed to train to make herself more powerful, and Draco's fire didn't seem to get any weaker.

Ciel takes a step forward to reach the edge of the grassy hill, the wind dancing around and sweeping up the leaves on the ground and giving them flight as they sway through the sky. He loved this weather, he should return back to the house and bring everyone els-

A flash of flight explodes in front of them, flinging Ciel off the ground and painfully onto his backside. The bright, blinded light lingers around on the hill for a few more moments before throwing people out of it and disappearing. Ciel rubs his eyes and stares at the sight before him as he can finally look without being blinded.

Add is the first to fall out of the light, his jacket had forcefully become a mess and his long, white hair was in a ponytail. He grins happily as he sees Ciel and opens his arms out to him.

I'm hooooo-" He begins to churp cheerfully, but stops halfway as Aisha drops out of the light next, with barely any clothes on her. "-ooooly _shit!_" He finishes.

"W-What…?" Aisha questions, but figures out the reason the moment she notices both Ciel's and Add's eyes were plastered onto her body, she quickly blushes and motions her hands at them. "Don't look, you creeps!"

"Add, Aisha…you guys are back…where have you bee-?" Ciel mutters in shock as he starts to get up from the piece of grass he had fallen onto clumsily. Add opens his mouth to give him a response, but flinches and stops his speech again as two other people fall out of the light.

Elsword and Rena, both looking completely different since the last time Ciel had seen them too, roll across the ground and gradually begin to pick themselves up. Rena immediately greets Ciel with a friendly smile as she lays eyes upon him, but Elsword's expression was utterly blank, much to Ciel's surprise.

"Phew, looks like we made it! Thank goodness, it's been quite the ride." Rena sighs tiredly, Ciel starts to return her smile back at her but hesitates as he sees the multiple cuts and bruises scattered along her body, like mines scattered around a minefield.

He thinks about rushing to her and bringing her inside to get some bandages on them, but Rena predicts that was what Ciel was considering and she waves a hand at him reassuringly, she didn't want to worry or burden him.

Elsword stays silent, and turns his head away as his eyes rest briefly on Aisha. Whatever had happened, Ciel thought to himself, was something that was going to take time for himself to understand.

Raven appears next, with both of his arms locked in tightly with rope, and grunts quietly when seeing Ciel. Raven looked drastically different as well, and Ciel wonders about the rope.

"Why are you tied up?"

"Because I need to be,"

"Alright, you've got to explain to me what has happened to you all. Do you know it's been a month since I've seen you? Why have you been?"

"It's kind of a long story. We'll be sure to explain it to you in full in due time, I'm presuming that house over there is currently yours?" Eve states in a monotone voice as she materializes along with Chung, Ara and Elesis. The Nasod points her index finger at the small, wooden house in the distance and tilts her head to the side.

"Yes, I suppose you are right. Don't worry, Lu and Draco are both there too, we've been fine since you've all disappeared." Ciel reports to the team as he motions his right hand to follow him back to the house. Chung, Ara and Elesis don't speak a word, and simply stare at the floor. They couldn't muster any sort of emotion at the moment, and Add raises an eyebrow about it.

"What do you think happened to them?" He whispers into Eve's ear, Eve shrugs carelessly and slowly starts to follow Ciel.

Ara cautiously wanders over to Add and glares at him, much to Add's pure confusion.

"Add…?"

"Um, yeah? Have you been hit in the head or something?" He replies with a clueless expression, Ara looks back at Elesis and Chung and nods to them. The man that had saved them in their fight against the Nephilims was not the Add

Which only confused them even more, just _who _did they see? It wasn't the Add they knew, but they looked almost identical. Elesis leans in her head closer to Ara.

"I would normally just reach the conclusion that I was seeing things, but the fact that we _all_ saw him…"

"Not to mention, he talked to me." Ara whispers back, Add shrugs his shoulders at the weird bunch glaring at him and whispering to each other, and wanders off to follow behind Eve. Chung regains his composure once he decides that their Add wasn't a threat, and shakes his head.

"Whatever the case is, we need to be alert. Don't act strange around him from now on but also keep a safe distance from him." He orders as he carries his thin Destroyer in his right hand and follows the team, Elesis and Ara nod in sync and do the same as him.

Everyone slowly trails behind Ciel, who still felt incredibly confused, towards the miniature house sitting at the top of the hill, Rena gasps at just how beautiful it was, and Raven even catches Aisha smiling slightly. Elsword raises his tired eyes and stares silently at the house, a blank look still present on him, and he turns his head to Raven.

"You don't need those ropes," The Knight mutters in a dull voice that Raven had never heard before, he glances down at his tied up arms before responding.

"I'm dangerous."

"Perhaps, but be honest, you can break out of that rope without trouble." Elsword retorts back in a bored manner, he really wasn't acting himself. The Elsword that Raven knew would laugh and giggle, without any logic in his words, but now every word he spoke was harsh but true.

"I know, but I still want them on, okay?" Raven growls back stubbornly, Elsword opens his mouth to reply something back but gets interrupted as Elesis rubs his head happily.

"Just look at you! What's with the new look, little bro?" She giggles, Elsword quickly grabs her hand and pushes it aside and off of his hair.

"Don't treat me like a child, Elesis. And don't call me by that anymore, my name is Elsword." He snaps back in a way that causes Elesis to widen her eyes.

She had never heard this kind of tone from him, and he had never complained about what she called him. Not to mention, this was the first time Elsword had ever addressed her by her normal name, her first instinct is to scold him for being so rude and then ask him what's wrong, but his empty, tired eyes convince her to just leave him be, for now.

The team reach the door to the house with Ciel holding the handle to it, the handle was gold-plated and the natural patterns on the wooden door were mesmerizing. Ciel nods his head to everyone and slowly pushes the door open.

Draco looks up from a newspaper he was holding in his hands and Lu drops the biscuit she was about to place into her mouth. Both of them had been caught completely off guard. Draco actually rubs his eyes for a moment to check if he was just seeing things, but everyone was truly in front of them. They both drop their jaws and stare at their friends quietly, Lu is the first to talk and her voice is a whisper mixed with a whimper.

"Um, hey. Do you guys…want to take a seat…?" She mumbles, not really sure what to say to allies she hadn't seen in a long time.

There's a lengthy, extremely-awkward pause after Lu's quiet question, it was so silent all they could hear was the sound of the soft breeze outside. Rena cheerfully breaks the silence by leaping over to Lu and squeezing her tightly in her arms.

"Luuuu~! It's been such a long time, you look so pretty!" The green-haired Elf compliments.

The awkward and quiet atmosphere of the house is quickly broken after that and everyone starts talking, except for Elsword who immediately finds a spare room and darts to it, closing the door forcefully behind him. Ciel sits down and motions his hand to tell everyone to sit down too, Elesis chooses to sit next to Draco and grin at him.

"Did you miss me?"

Draco feels speechless, like his breath was quickly trying to escape him. He had resigned himself to thinking that he was never going to see her face again. Her beautiful, elegant hair. That confident, smug, pretty face of hers, and that calming yet fierce voice. He attempts to hide his strange happiness and he glances back down at his newspaper.

"Perhaps,"

"Oh, come on! That's it? Don't you want to hug or shake hands or something? We're partners, remember?"

"I just didn't think I'd see you again."

"Wha-?"

"I was scared." He blurts out against his own control, he didn't want to say those words. It was the very last thing he wanted to say, but after such a long period of time of not seeing her, he truly couldn't hold back. He had to say it.

Elesis is completely taken aback by Draco's response, she had only meant to tease him. His sudden words had shaken her, she couldn't find any sort of reply to them. Though, if she was going to be honest, she felt a small sense of happiness to hear Draco say something heartfelt and not the cold remarks he usually gave.

Lu snaps to get everyone's attention, she stands up and places her hands on her skinny hips.

"Okay, let's get straight to it. Where the heck have you been?"

Chung sighs and answers before anyone else can.

"In the world where Glave, the masked man we've been constantly seeing, lives. It's a massive, empty world filled with cubes."

Ciel crouches over in his seat, a concerned glare in his eyes.

"Yeah, he took me to that world once as well. It was only for a few moments."

"Really? Why did he take you there?"

Ciel truly didn't want to talk about the horrifying vision that Glave had shown him, so he shrugs his shoulders and leans back into his chair.

"Just to tell me some random threats, nothing worth mentioning."

Rena raises an eyebrow, she felt as though he wasn't telling the full story, but no one else seemed to properly notice, so she decides not to pry. She holds a wound on her left shoulder, that had now become a scar, and speaks up.

"Well, he took us there because he said that he wanted to test us, that he wanted us to get stronger so that we could entertain him more." She informs them, Lu frowns at the thought of being someone else's entertainment and growls.

"So this 'Glave' is calling us entertainers?! How dare he! We're fighters, not clowns at a circus!" She huffs, only calming down when Ciel pats the top of her head softly.

"I can definitely tell that most of you have changed significantly in the last month, some of you look very different." He remarks, looking at each team member and seeing differences.

"You and Lu have changed appearances too." Elesis retorts, she still didn't trust the two of them, and the fact that they seemed more powerful now didn't settle well with her.

"That's because we've been working hard without you all, we saved Velder from a sudden attack from the demon army."

"Huh, nice work." Elesis admits, feeling relieved that Velder was safe.

"And we were planning on moving on to Hamel this afternoon, you guys showed up right on time." Draco finishes for everyone, not taking his eyes off of his newspaper.

Ciel turns his head slowly to Raven, who was sitting down quietly with his hands still tied up, and looks at him. Raven's frown seemed like it was here to stay, and he wouldn't utter a word to anyone. Ciel finds this ridiculous and wanders over to Raven, grabs the piece of rope on him, and slices it off with the tip of his right Gunblade.

"This is a poor sight, Raven. Pull yourself together." The assassin orders him, a serious aura emitting from him. Raven backs away slightly from Ciel and hisses.

"I'm dangerous, you shouldn't come that close."

"You're no dangerous than the rest of us, trust me. You think you're the only one that has strayed from their path? Plenty of people have, but you're a survivor. That arm has taken over your sense of judgement many times, yet here you are, in control of yourself again."

Raven lowers his head and considers Ciel's words carefully, he looks away from the assassin and mumbles.

"Why? Why do you hold faith in someone who is hanging by a thread? Why do you care if I see myself as a monster or not?"

Ciel's supportive smile fades and he gradually sheathes the Gunblade he had used, he folds his arms and sighs before replying.

"Because you're just like me. When I look at you, I see myself. Unstable, uncertain, lost. We've both killed far too many innocent people, and we're not both trying to redeem ourselves. In fact, you're even better than me. You only killed because you couldn't control yourself, I killed for money." He mutters weakly under his breath so that only Raven and him would hear it. "These hands will never be clean, but you still have a chance, Raven."

Raven opens his mouth to respond with something to comfort Ciel but comes up short. He couldn't say anything back to that, Ciel was right in every way.

"Now come on, you're probably feeling tired. We've got plenty of rooms, choose whichever you like."

Raven nods slowly and lives the room, ignoring Rena's pleads to stay a little while longer. He closes the door quietly, unlike Elsword, and leaves everyone else in silence.

Eve sighs at the situation. Raven, to her, was a lost cause that they should have given up on a long time ago. But, she never told anyone that. She decided to let them believe he could still be saved, everyone needs hope, even if it's just false hope.

She directs her attention to Add, who had been strangly well-behaved ever since they had escaped Glave's time and space continuum, he was staring quietly at something, but Eve couldn't properly tell what it was. She leans in closer to his head and tries to look at where his eyes were focusing on.

They were focused on Aisha. Eve immediately raises her left hand and smacks Add across the face, causing him to fall back in shock.

"Hey, what was that for?!" He yelps as he clasps his hands on his cheek.

"That was for staring at Aisha, that kind of behaviour is unacceptable."

Aisha overhears Add's and Eve's words and quickly becomes flustered, with her face going as red as a tomato.

"Add! Seriously, stop looking at me!" She yells at him angrily, she grabs the nearest pillow next to her and tosses it at him, hitting him right in the head. Add pulls the pillow off of his face and frowns.

"Then, for the love of El, change into something else!" Add protests like a child, Lu shakes her head disappointedly and Eve shoots a terrifying look at him.

"I can't, it's part of a contract, okay?"

"Bah, whatever! I'll just head to my room, I've had enough for one day." He ends as he snaps his fingers to get the Nasod Dynamos to follow him and gets out of his seat, Eve stands up at the same time and nods.

"Indeed, I will need to recharge my energy too."

Then they both of them leave the room, Aisha still flustered about the situation. Ciel also lifts himself off of his chair and takes a short bow for Lu.

"I've made your favourite biscuits as a snack, I'll go bring them now."

"Hehe~! Thank you, Ciel!" Lu giggles back in her cutesy voice, Chung puts on a small smile and waves his hand.

"Can we have some too?"

"Of course, I've made plenty."

The assassin walks over to the kitchen behind the living room and Ara could clearly hear the sounds of pots and pans clashing together, Ciel was an excellent cook and dedicated to serving Lu well, Rena envied his skills and Aisha wished that he could be her butler. Chung didn't really have a good read on Ciel though.

Elesis points at Chung and snaps her fingers at him to get his attention.

"Hey, don't forget that promise you made. We'll be starting tomorrow."

Chung tilts his head to the side, clueless about what she was talking about.

"I'm sorry, what promise are you referring to?"

"Remember our fight with the Nephilims? You agreed to spar with me."

"Oh, that's right…"

"Hehe, you might be pretty fast now but you'll still need some strength to back it up so that you can pack a punch. I'll teach you how."

Chung smiles happily, appreciating the kindness of her offer.

"Yes, thank you. I would like nothing more."

"Do you mind if I join too?" Ara asks in her sweetest voice as Ciel returns to the living room with a plate full of biscuits and cookies. Elesis watches the plate settle down on the large table between all of them and grins.

"Not at all,"

* * *

Add chucks a book sitting on the bed in the bedroom over to the side, really to collapse onto it. He really didn't have an ounce of energy still left in him, he gets ready to fall onto the soft bed but stops when Eve's hand rests on his right shoulder.

"Eve? The hell are you doing here?!"

"Lu said that we only have a limited amount of rooms, around six to be precise. Raven will get a room to himself, Lu and Ciel will have one too, and then Rena and Aisha will share a bedroom, with Chung and Elsword resting in the other one. Ara and Elesis will have the fifth one and Draco said he doesn't want a room, if he gets tired he'll just rest on one of the chairs in the living room."

"Which leaves one more," Add mutters to himself, considering what Eve had informed him, he sighs and grins at her. "And I don't suppose you'd be happy sleeping in the living room?"

"Of course not, I am royalty. I deserve to sleep in a bedroom."

"Eh, worth a shot. Well, you've got the floor and I've got the bed, sound good to you?"

"No, it doesn't."

Add frowns disappointedly at her response, he thought that was worth a shot too but he could see now that it had already been decided. He was going to have to sleep on that floor. Not the soft, fluffy bed that was just beckoning at him to come closer.

He tries to get his mind off of his frustration and anger by glancing out the window resting above the bed and smiling at its calm rays.

"Feels weird to sleep when it's still daytime, huh?"

"I wouldn't know. I had been asleep for many years in a capsule,"

"Oh, right…I almost completely forgot about that."

"That's fortunate for you, because I don't think I'll ever forget it. Goodnight, or good morning, whichever you prefer." Eve quickly snaps back as she motions to Moby and Remy to hover around her as she lies down on the bed with a red, furry blanket.

Add does his best to ignore the fact that she looked incredible in the lying-down position she was in and commands his Nasod Dynamos to form into a floating plank for him to rest on. He sits down on it first and flicks his wrist to summon a hologram, facing the other way from the bed and staring at the hovering, blue screen.

"Heh, well, rest easy. We've still got work to do on Oberon when you wake up." He chuckles quietly, not turning his head around to look at her.

Eve covers herself with the thick blanket and hugs Moby in her arms like a toy, carefully peering over to stare at Add. He looked very strange in the ponytail she had made for him, and the way he was just glaring at a blank screen didn't make any sense to her.

But then Add's index finger slides across the hologram, bringing random equations and other complicated mathematics, it was so long that it filled the entire screen, and every time Add would slide his finger across it, even more would show. He rests his head in his palm while placing his elbow onto his knee, causing him to hunch over. He was silent, immersed into the numbers, his eyes refusing to look anywhere else.

Eve simply lies there, watching Add read those numbers over and over again. Minutes pass, and Eve begins to wonder why she wasn't asleep yet, her eyelids just didn't feel heavy anymore, was it the open window with its sunlight? Or was it because she wanted to know what Add is reading?

She had no idea, but she eventually gives up on sleeping and sits up on her bed. Add takes no notice.

"You seem intrigued with those screens, is it coding for the Dynamos?" Eve questions Add, startling him slightly. She attempts to make herself sound as uninterested as possible, but guessing from Add's smug grin that greets her, she failed at that.

"In a way. It's still incomplete, which makes it very bothersome to me, like an itch I can't scratch."

"Another type of AI you want to install?"

"Nope. Not even close. It's something even better, and if I perfect it…"

"Hm?" Eve hums to herself, hanging onto every word. Add decides to leave his explanation trailed off and looks away from her again.

She didn't need to know about it.

"I think we should just focus on Oberon for now."

"Very well," Eve agrees, losing interest in what Add was going to say, and lies back down on her bed.

"Kehe! Well now, it didn't take that much to get you to do what I say! Getting a little obedient, are we?" Add remarks, purposely trying to tease and anger her. Eve flips her blanket back onto herself and snorts.

"Go to hell."

Add stays silent for a few moments after her response, his grin vanishing in an instant. He lowers his head and goes back to staring at his holograms.

"Where do you think I come from…?"

* * *

Chung gets up from his seat as he finishes his last biscuit, nods politely and leaves his Destroyer in the living room.

"I apologize, I really need to rest now. Please wake me up by the afternoon."

"No problem," Ciel says back, not looking at Chung as he grabs the empty tray that was once full.

"So, which room will I be in?"

"Elsword's room, I hope you don't mind."

"Oh, no that's fine. Well, see you soon."

Chung walks out of the living room and into a narrow corridor with multiple rooms panning on the right side of it, there were six doors in total, and Chung quickly guesses which door led to Elsword by the sword resting on it. It seemed strange to him that Elsword would leave his sword just outside his room, he usually kept it by his side no matter where he went.

Chung places his left hand on the wooden door and pushes it, seeing a single bed with Elsword sitting on top of it, he doesn't turn to look at Chung as he wanders in. Chung closes the door behind him and expects Elsword to look at him at any moment and give him a kind smile, which Chung was preparing to return. It doesn't happen. Elsword just continuously traces his right hand on his left arm, staring at the red tattoo on it.

Chung had never seen the tattoo, nor this kind of awkward and silent behaviour from Elsword, but he assumes that his trails must have traumatized him a little, so he lets it go and instead scans the room.

Elsword was sitting on the only bed, so Chung already know that it was the floor for him, but he didn't really care. He could remember old, fond memories of his childhood where he would scale the highest mountains in Hamel. Every time they would need to rest slightly, Chung would have to somehow do so on the rocky surfaces and chilling-to-the-bone temperatures, but his father never rested. Not once, no matter how long the trip was, did his father ever suggest taking a break, it was always Chung that would have to say it.

Chung grabs hold of a blanket sitting beside the bed and tosses it onto the floor, he could probably sleep without it, but he really wanted to sleep the moment his back met the ground.

"Do you…um…want me to wake you up at a certain time? Or do you want to sleep the whole day?" Chung asks Elsword quietly as he gradually takes his white armour off and sets it next to him, Elsword still doesn't look up from his arm and mutters in a whisper.

"Aisha died, you know." He suddenly informs Chung, the Guardian's eyes widen and he drops the armour the gauntlets he had just taken off, it crashes onto the ground and makes a loud noise. Chung opens his mouth but cannot find any sort of response. "In front of me, and there was nothing I could do about it."

"Then…right now…how is she-?"

"-alive? That's what's bothering me, I read one of her books in a hurry and summoned a demon to strike a deal with her. The deal was that she would always have to wear the clothes you saw on her right now."

"You summoned a demon? Elsword, you never do that." Chung snaps at him, unable to control himself. He felt incredibly relieved and grateful that Aisha was alive because of it, but he knew by instinct that it was wrong.

"What was I supposed to do? Allow her to stay dead and let Glave have his way?"

"I…I don't know, Elsword, I really don't. All I know is that demons never play fair, which is why I always feel anxious around Lu, because their deals will always have some kind of punishment that they didn't tell you about."

"I think I already know what my punishment is," Elsword speaks back very quickly, almost interrupting Chung. He motions to the tattoo on his arm and lowers his head.

"The tattoo?"

"Yeah, it appeared on my arms the moment I drew a summoning circle that was depicted in the Aisha's book. I didn't even feel it, I only noticed it later on."

"Perhaps you should ask Aisha what it means,"

"I thought of that, but I didn't want to worry her, so I picked up her book again and read through it once more…"

"And…?"

Elsword sulks down and looks away from his tattoo, he couldn't bear to see it for a second longer.

"It's a timer, forced onto the person that makes summoning circle for a demon, that's why very few Mages dare to make them. When it reaches zero, I die."

"D-Die…?!" Chung gasps, trying his best to keep his voice down so that their conversation wouldn't leave the bedroom, his heart began pounding in his chest and he started feeling quite dizzy. He couldn't even begin to imagine Elsword ever being dead, Chung gets up from the ground and stares at him with concern.

"How long is the timer?"

"I don't know. The book says that the tattoo doesn't really have any rules in terms of time. This three could suddenly go down to a zero and kill me at any moment, or I could be alive for another ten years. That's what's so agonizing about it."

"We need to ask Aisha about it, she could help us get rid of it!"

"I don't want to worry her,"

"This isn't about worrying anymore, Elsword. You're going to die, she _needs _to be worried, and she deserves to know about this, everyone does!"

"No way, I'm definitely not telling the team. If they know about this, they'll forget about protecting our world and start pampering me, like mothers. Then the demons will kill even more innocent people, and who do you think would be to blame? Me. My life isn't nearly as important as the people being slaughtered by demons out there, we need to focus on them."

Chung wishes to protest, to do something to change his mind, but Elsword's stern and firm eyes didn't waver, and he did have truth in his words.

"At least tell Aisha then, I won't settle on anything else."

Elsword thinks over it for a second, and eventually nods his head slowly.

"Fine, she already knows about it, anyway. And perhaps there's still a way to get this tattoo off my arm, or delay its countdown."

"Exactly,"

Elsword finally spreads a small smile onto his weak face and looks at Chung, he brushes his hand through his spiked, red hair and sighs.

"I'm still going to have to act myself if I don't want the rest to worry, some of them already suspect that something's wrong. How's the smile? Seem authentic?"

"It's close,"

"Good,"

Then the Knight drops his back onto the soft bed and closes his eyes, allowing his body to rest. Chung lowers his glance and falls back to the floor, but he knew he couldn't sleep now. Elsword wraps himself in his blanket like a human spring roll and tries to drift off.

But he also knew that he wasn't getting any rest any time soon, his body was restless and his thoughts were a constant blur in his mind. He couldn't sleep like this.

Not with death waiting for him right around the corner.


	63. No 55: A Deal Between Gods

**Hello, here's chapter 55~!**

**Sorry about the delay on this one, I had a bit of trouble posting it, but it's here now! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

Glave releases an annoyed sigh as he watches his right arm rip away from his body and slide across the floor. He stares at the gushing blood spewing from where his arm had once been, the flesh on it gradually begins to regenerate and snap back together, and his right arm starts to grow back.

Glave cackles in delight at the sensation of pain, it was so incredibly rare of him to feel it, so every time he did, he took it as a gift. He stamps his foot onto the ground and watches as hundreds of blue swords materialize from beneath his feet and slice away at the ten Dark Nephilims before him. All of the petty creatures howl and shriek with agony, and it was like music to Glave's ears. He then raises his left hand and clenches it into a fist, which commands the miniature cubes floating around him to expand to ten times its normal size and collapse onto three Berthes that were charging his way.

The massive cubes crash onto the first two Berthes but miss the final and third one, and the demon continues its charge to Glave, the masked man makes no more effort to keep it away and allows the Berthe to collide into him, he coughs out blood and watches it slide out of his mask. One of the horns of the Berthe had pierced right into his chest, and now Glave was suspended in mid-air on Berthe's head.

Glave screams out another delighted laugh as his chest slowly sinks even further into the Berthe's spiked horn.

"You really think that will work?! Just when will you demons realize that I cannot be beaten in my own realm Even with one arm left, I can still crush you all." He mutters as he summons another miniature cube into his left hand and squeezes down on it, causing blue axes to rain from the sky and cut through the Berthe's head, the giant demon roars its final roar and drops onto the ground as one of the axes hacks straight through its brain.

Glave forces himself out of the demon's horn, gets to his feet, and stares at the massive hole in his chest, his heart falls out and his guts pour down to his feet. He frowns from behind his mask as he looks at his red, still-beating heart as it sits on the floor, it was the one thing that kept reminding him that no matter how powerful he was, he was still mortal.

"I've had enough entertainment for one day, next time give it your all, will you?" Glave whispers as he snaps his fingers with his newly-grown right arm and observes the beautiful display of the demons simultaneously-combusting in front of him. Body parts fly across the empty world of the time-space continuum like heavy rain, and Glave's turns himself around and summons a blue throne to sit on.

He rests himself on the majestic throne covered in ancient patterns and takes in a deep breath, he wasn't accustomed to using so much of his power in one day, and he didn't think he was quite fond of it, either. He contemplates over taking his mask off or not, to breathe easier, but eventually decides against it. His master had told him to never take the mask off, and while the curiosity did eat away at him about the reason, he knew just how wise his master was and that he wouldn't tell Glave to not take it off for no reason.

He lowers his head and starts to chuckle happily.

"Well, now that's all sorted, perhaps I'll resume my observation on Elsword and his friends. I haven't watched them for a couple days now, I wonder what they're up to, hopefully something fun!" He giggles to himself as he raises his hand to summon a hologram that would allow him to watch the humans in Elrios.

"You find them entertaining? They're just boring." A voice whispers so quietly that Glave wasn't sure if he had really heard it, but then the voice continues, slightly louder. "Don't get me wrong, humans are adorable, but utterly dull."

Glave immediately jumps out of his throne and dematerializes it, glaring at the dark figure that was slowly walking towards him.

"Who did you get here? I didn't summon anyone to the continuum."

The dark figure wanders closer to Glave to give him a better view, the man was tall and skinny, covered in black and purple armour, and his pitch-black eyes were able to send a shiver even up Glave's spine. The man also had shaggy, white hair, which quickly reminding Glave of Add.

But this monster of a man standing before him with a wide grin on his face wasn't Add, it couldn't be possible. Add never had the ability to travel to the time and space continuum before, but this man had come here without any warning. Glave straightens himself and regains his composure, there was no reason to be worried nor anxious about this man.

The armoured man stays silent for a few moments before responding to Glave's question.

"Because I'm just like you, time is but a toy to play around with. I can be anywhere I want at any time, and right now I want to be _here_."

Now that Glave had a better hearing of this man's voice, he was able to recognize it as Add's voice except faster in pace and it sounding like this man was constantly laughing throughout every word that come out of his smiling mouth. Could it truly be him?

"Are you…?" Glave slowly trails off, the man quickly walks closer and shakes his head at Glave, he didn't want the masked man to utter another word of that question.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't say that name, I don't ever want to hear it."

"Well…are you him?"

"No, I'm not."

"Then who are you?"

"It doesn't really matter, does it?"

Glave places his hand on his chin and glares at the man. Should he demand a name from this stranger.

"No, I suppose not. Glave mutters as he shakes his head and decides to drop the matter, whoever this man was didn't matter, what mattered was the man's business here.

"So, why are you here? I can assure you, if you're interested in some challenges, I will be happy to comply." Glave informs the man in a cheeky manner, the stranger waves his hand dismissively and leans in closer to the masked man.

"Tell me, Glave, do you believe in the Devil?"

Glave gets taken aback from the sudden question, it had absolutely nothing to do with what they were just talking about, and the smile of the man's face only seemed to get larger and larger. The masked man thinks over his answer for a second before replying.

"No,"

"Well, that's foolish."

"And why is that?"

The man cackles happily, he found Glave extremely amusing, he leans in even further to him to press his face on the cold mask of the time-space keeper. Glave glares into the black eyes with purple scleras from close up and feels the sense of anxiety again. The man with the empty eyes lowers his voice down to a whisper again and speaks.

"Because you're looking at him."

* * *

Chung smiles a genuine smile as he bites into the boiled egg on his plate, he chews it for a few seconds and gulps it down, loving its incredible taste. He turns to look at Ciel.

"Wow, this is wonderful, Ciel! How did you make these eggs so good?" He asks the assassin as he takes another bite out of his breakfast, Ciel shrugs and answers modestly.

"It wasn't all that much work, I just placed in a couple of herbs that I saw lying around near this hill."

Rena claps her hands together and tilts her head to the side.

"Oh, Ciel, I never thought anyone could match my knowledge in herbs and cooking, but I was wrong!" The Elf giggles to him, Ciel raises an eyebrow and looks at the rest of the team as they all chew down their eggs quickly.

"Wait, if Rena can cook, then why am I the only one that makes the food for all of us?" He questions in confusion, Aisha is the first to gulp down her bite and answer.

"Because she's a vegetarian, which means she'll only put vegetables for our food, no matter what it is."

"There would never be any kind of meat," Raven nods and continues in agreement, even he couldn't put up with it. Ciel widens his eyes and looks back at Rena.

"Really? Not even a little bit of meat?"

"Nope, and these children need to learn how to eat some vegetarian food every now and then!" Rena snaps back, looking at her teammates as though she was scolding them. Aisha and Chung only respond with a groan. No one else says anything except for Add.

"So what? I'm fine with that." He mutters as he shrugs his shoulders. Aisha immediately drops her food and fork, and all stares become pointed at him. "What…?"

"You're a vegetarian?!" Aisha questions him in a way that told him that his answer should be a no, Add shakes his head with no smile present on his face.

"Of course not, but I do have vegetarian food every now and then."

"How often are we talking?"

"Once every week or so."

Chung's stare slowly leaves Add and directs itself back to his own plate.

"Huh," The Guardian mumbles simply, Raven doesn't drop his stare at Add and folds his arms.

"Not to pry or anything, but it's been bothering me for some time, why are you so skinny?" The scarred man asks, Eve now begins to look at Add as well, as though she was also curious about the subject.

"Kehe, that's because I sometimes skip a lunch or dinner."

"Yes, I have noticed that." Ciel comments quickly, as the chef of the house he already knew about these kinds of things.

"So what do you eat instead? Do you just eat nothing?" Rena asks herself, Add shakes his head once more, with a smile now on that cheeky face of his.

"Nope, I just have some chocolate."

"Chocolate?" Eve repeats slowly after a few moments, Add nods his head.

"Yeah, I love that El-damn stuff."

"So, it's your favourite snack?" Ara questions Add in a polite manner as she finishes her breakfast, Add nods again.

"Suppose so, you?"

"Oh, me? I don't know if I have a favourite snack…though I guess it would be sweets?" She responds with uncertainty, Aisha smiles.

"Mine is raisins, for sure. How about you, Rena?"

Rena places her index finger onto her chin and begins to think. She had never really considered it either, but she eventually comes up with one.

"I definitely love grapes as a snack."

"I love biscuits!" Chung blurts out without wanting to, Lu nods in agreement with the Guardian.

"Ohh~! Your favourite snack is close to mine, since mine is cookies, but only if Ciel is the one that makes them." She giggles cutely as she swings her feet around like a child, Ciel takes a short bow for the compliment.

"Can't deny that, Ciel's cookies are something else." Elesis chuckles, hiding her disgust to the fact that she was agreeing with a demon.

Elsword stares silently at his friends. Everyone was laughing, making conversation, being a team, being family. He couldn't help but want to join in. He used to be the one who started all the talking, but now he was being the most quiet out of all of them. He didn't know what to do, his time was limited. Should he really be spending his moments just upset and quiet? Because that was definitely not who he is.

He glances over to the red tattoo on his arm that had been haunting him for so long, it hasn't changed. It's still displaying the number three.

He could fall over and die at any time, he should be making every second count now. He raises his chin and observes everyone's grins and smiles, even Eve couldn't hide that tiny smile on her face. If he really was going to die soon, he was going to spend it being himself.

"My…favourite snack is boar!" He quickly interrupts everyone, forcing a smile half-heartedly onto his face. Everyone stares at him quietly for a few moments, simply blinking. Eventually Rena giggles and waves her hand at him.

"Oh, Elsword, you can't call a boar a snack! It's an entire meal!" She laughs, and soon everyone joins in with her, Elesis slaps her brother softly on the back and chuckles again.

"That's Elsword for you, that stomach of his is never full!"

The cheery atmosphere doesn't change in the slightest and Elsword feels warmth inside his body once more, his friends would always be there for him.

Through both thick and thin.

* * *

Glave folds his arms and stays silent for a lengthy amount of time, simply looking at the man with curiosity flowing strongly through him. The man was actually calling himself the Devil, which made Glave wonder if he was just joking, but the serious expression on the stranger's face seemed to indicate otherwise. In the end, Glave could only reply with a chuckle.

"_You're _the Devil? Don't make me laugh, the Devil doesn't exist."

"Well, you don't have to believe me, but I've told you what I am. Now then, let's get to business, shall we?" The man cackles back as he tilts his head sideways.

"You still haven't told me exactly what your business here is though,"

"My business has to do with your future plans, you want to take down Luto, don't you?"

Glave takes a quick step back and fails to hold back a sudden gasp, the stranger somehow knew of his intentions, the masked man tries his best to disguise his gasp as a cough and looks at the man with the empty eyes again.

"You…have information that no one should know. Do you have some kind of source."

"I am my own source."

"I don't follow," Glave admits, he didn't understand what the man was implying, the stranger rolls his eyes and decides to just say it.

"I'm from the future, Glave. I've seen it all. You decide to go against your own master, you try to kill him and claim the time and space continuum all for yourself. Well, sorry to say this, but you fail."

"I…fail?"

"Indeed, Luto is more powerful than you could ever imagine. You get carried away with your own strength and believe that it could rival Luto's, which was your greatest mistake."

"So," Glave responses in heavy hesitation, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to know the answer to his upcoming question. "What happens to me if I fail?"

"Simple, he kills you."

Glave lowers his head and smiles weakly, that answer was to be expected. Luto would never tolerate the act of betrayal, especially not from his closet servant. The masked man now places his hands on his hips.

"Alright, if you've really come from the near future, why and how did you come back? Certainly, you shouldn't care about my death or not."

"True, but your rise to power could help me quite a bit. You see, while Luto is in power, I'll never be able to research the time-space continuum freely…but if I bring_ you _to power…"

"Then you expect me to let you do that?"

"Correct," The man grins happily, knowing that Glave now understood his intentions, Glave sighs and thinks over the deal that the stranger was trying to make.

"And you honestly think I'll let you do that?"

"Well, if you want guidance so that you don't die a painful death, then yes."

"…why should I believe you anyway? Maybe you're just lying about this entire thing, perhaps you're not even from the future."

"Maybe I am, maybe this is all just a lie, but can you willing to take that risk? Are you willing to risk rejecting my help because of suspicion?"

Glave sucks his teeth and groans, the stranger had a very good point. He couldn't afford to pass this kind of opportunity, to have someone from the future on his side. Besides, this man had made his way into the continuum all by himself, so he must have the ability to bend time and space too.

Glave only wished he could look into the by will and see the truth for himself, but only Luto has that ability right now, Glave once had it but it left him over time. The masked man lowers his head and nods it slowly.

"Alright, fair point, but I'll warn you right now, no one has found and researched the ultimate power that Henir has hidden inside the continuum. You might never find what you're looking for."

The stranger with the black eyes laughs at the remark and holds out his right hand, creating a purple distortion in space to travel though. He places his other hand on his face, with a grin that Glave simply didn't like looking at.

"You just worry about yourself right now, I'll get what I want soon enough!" He cackles, slowly stepping into the portal he had created, but hesitates halfway through. He looks at Glave one last time, a concerned frown on the face. "But…there's one more thing."

"And what's that?"

"Along with being allowed to do research on this continuum, I would like to capture Add too, for research purposes as well." He speaks as a request but by the sound of his tone, it was more of a command to Glave. The masked man doesn't flinch nor care about the request and shrugs his shoulders.

"Doesn't matter to me, he's almost finished entertaining me anyway. The only problem is that Add isn't exactly the person that will be easy to kidnap…" He trails off in a chuckle, but then points his finger at the stranger, feeling confused. "But wait, I thought you didn't want me saying that name."

"I said I don't want you calling _me _by that name."

"Then what exactly should I call you, if you're going to be my partner on this, I need to at least address you by something.

The man covered in purple and black armour hesitates once more, he turns his head to the side and plays with one of his black Dynamos with his right hand. He was obviously thinking of a name to use an alias, and Glave quickly guessed that.

Eventually, the stranger puts on his familiar grin again and leaps into the purple portal, traveling to another dimension, and in the last seconds of being in the continuum. The man with empty eyes gives Glave a name to call him by.

"I'm Aizen, now let's get to work."


	64. No 55 (Filler): Heading To Hamel

**Hello guys, here's another short filler showing that the next location will be Hamel. This filler is basically what happens between chapter 55 and the upcoming 56. Enjoy~!**

**Special thanks to Skyline1912 and Codmester for following/favouriting, welcome to the family, and welcome aboard! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

Ciel watches everyone get packed one-by-one. It felt refreshing to see so many familiar faces again, he was relieved that they had been reunited once more. It was like meeting family members for the first time in ages, which made Ciel wonder, were they a family? It could be possible, but some teammates just couldn't get along either because of their backgrounds or personalities, it didn't seem like a close bond between them was to occur any time soon, but Ciel had faith.

Lu was the first one ready, as she didn't really have anything to prepare, and she bursts into the living room with a bright grin on her cute face. She flips her skirt to readjusts it, much to Ciel's delight, and places her hands on her hips. Her energetic attitude was radiating throughout the entire house.

"Are you ready, Ciel?"

"Of course, we'll just need to wait for the others. They have just woken up, it will be difficult for them to prepare for the things ahead. You seem excited."

"Well, duh? Hamel is filled with a bunch of creatures to crush beneath my heel, this will be wonderful!" She giggles in her childish manner, but Ciel wasn't fooled by it. A drop of sweat rolls down his head as he raises an eyebrow, he already knew just how cruel his master could be some times, but it still overwhelmed him.

"Um…well that's…right." He murmurs, glancing at the bedrooms, seeing if anyone had come out yet. Draco barges out of his room with Elesis trailing behind him, a flustered look on his face.

"I'm telling you, I'm fine!" He barks angrily, pushing his way past Lu and Ciel to grab his jacket that had been left untidily on one of the chairs. Lu folds her arms and analyses the situation, it was a tense one.

"Just let Eun have a look at it, it doesn't look fine at all." She speaks commandly, like she was talking to a stubborn child. Draco shakes his head and looks at Ciel.

"Could you tell her to stop babysitting me?"

Ciel waves both of his hands out in front of him, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Don't get me involved." He requests as his gaze momentarily directs at Elesis, but he quickly looks the other way again as she stares back. He wasn't about to argue with someone like her.

"Draco, you literally have a hole in the middle of your chest, we don't even know how you're still alive!" Elesis snaps back at him, pointing at him both threateningly and worriedly.

"It's because I'm not ordinary, this kind of injury isn't going to do anything."

Ara slowly and gradually slides out of her room, a dazed look in her eyes, and she rubs them tiredly.

"What's with all the noise…?" She mutters, struggling to not fall asleep again, and Draco couldn't help but notice how little she was wearing, just a simple white nighty that was faintly see-through, he decides to look away.

"You could say that again," Add grumbles as he scratches the back of his head, his tired eyes staring at everyone in the room. "Did you know Eve snores?"

"She does?" Lu responds like it was a shocking revelation, which is what it felt like to Ciel do.

"Damn right, it'll drive you insane." Add mutters, looking over his shoulder to make sure Eve wasn't coincidently listening in on the conversation.

"Good thing you're already there." Draco replies with a smirk, it takes a while for Add to get it, but when he does he swings his head backwards and cackles in delight.

"Good point!"

Elesis looks from Add and back to Draco, hoping he would finally agree to having someone take a look at his old wound. Draco realizes and recognizes the stare, he shakes his head stubbornly.

"It's seriously not a big deal, but I promise I'll let someone check it if it gives me any pain." He compromises, Elesis stays silent for a moment, thinks over it, and gives a small nod.

"Fine,"

Everyone else gradually start to pour into the living room. Elsword and Chung were having quiet chat, Ara and Elesis began double-checking their equipment, Raven stood all alone in one corner, and Eve had already smacked him when he told her how she snored.

"Nasods cannot snore." She snaps in a monotone voice, Add rubs the area of his face where Eve had slapped and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, you did. What I want to know is _how _you snore, you're not human."

Eve turns around and begins fiddling with the edges of her dress, readjusting the sleeves and the crown on her head. She obviously wasn't comfortable in her current clothing.

"And I'm grateful for that."

Add raises an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that? Not all humans are terrible."

"…I suppose not." She whispers hesitantly, she glances at Add for a split second but quickly redirects her gaze to somewhere else. Add wonders what that sudden look meant, though he didn't ponder on it for every long.

Aisha finally appears from out of her room with Rena following cheerfully behind, the Elf whispers something into Aisha's ear which makes them both giggle. Ciel notices Elsword constantly glancing towards Aisha, though he decides not to point it out.

Draco looks at one of the chair's for a few moments and rests on it, his eyes now glaring at the team.

"You've slept the entire morning, it's almost midnight now." He states, looking at the everyone, one-by-one, before shooting a look at Ciel. "Are you sure it's wise to travel to Hamel under the current conditions?"

"I wouldn't call this decision wise, but we're running out of time. We've spent enough time already just waiting around, it's about time we went back into the war, and Hamel is in the centre of it right now." The assassin responds, seeing nods of agreement from Raven and Chung as he does so. Draco tilts his head slightly to one side and shrugs.

"Well, it's not really a problem, I suppose. Elesis and I went to Hamel one time, though our stay there was very short."

"We met Penensio on the way, as well. He's an highest-ranked man in Hamel right now, and their commander. He knows me pretty well, we should be welcomed easily." Elesis cuts in, reassuring Ciel as he folds his arms.

Chung nods again, immediately recognizing the name. He steps forward, his Destroyer held in his right hand.

"I know of him too. He's a brave warrior, and powerful. The first Rune Slayer, if I remember correctly. He has powers similar to Elsword's new ones." Chung explains, looking back at Elsword for a moment. The expression on the Knight's face made Chung sure that this was news to him too. "Once he knows I'm the Prince, he'll provide us with whatever we need."

Ara claps her hands together, dropping her spear, and rushes up to Chung. There was a distinct glimmer in her eyes as she spoke with a smile.

"That's right, I completely forgot! You're the Prince of Hamel!"

"Yeah..." He mutters, not enjoying the attention that he was now receiving from Rena and Aisha too, he hated stares. "But please don't address me as one, I only want to be called Chung."

Raven nods understandingly, and Rena and Aisha's stares of envy quickly fade. Lu grins suggestively, and she strides forward.

"But if you are Prince, that means we could get some pretty expensive rewards for protecting your land, wouldn't you agree?" She asks, and Chung puts on a fake smile, he didn't know she was so interested in rewards now.

"Now, Lu, don't be rude." Ciel scolds in the most polite way possible. "Chung is our friend, we are obligated to help him, we shouldn't ask for things in return."

Lu begins to pout and glare at the assassin, Ciel doesn't add anything else and grabs his Gunblades resting on a table near the fireplace, equipping them behind his back.

Add straightens his jacket, a bored look plastered all over his face. He wasn't exactly thrilled about going to Hamel, but he knew he had to keep going if he wanted to keep Glave 'happy'. That masked man promised him the secrets of time travel, and Add could feel his patience quickly running out. He turns to a small, dusty mirror hung on a nail in the wall and starts playing with his long, white hair.

"I need a haircut…" He whispers to himself, meaning for it to only be in his head. Eve overhears the statement and looks at him.

"Rena could do that for you, she's good at haircuts."

Add swings back around to Eve, startled as he realizes she heard him. He clears his throat and puts on his usual grin.

"Heh, duly noted."

"You seem distraught, is something wrong?" She questions, trying her best not to sound worried about him. She wasn't. She was just genuinely curious about his strange behaviour lately.

"Me? Nah. I've just got a lot on my mind, that's all."

Eve mimics human expression by raising her left eyebrow and tilting her head slightly to the side. She wasn't buying it, and Add knew that all too well. He attempts to smoothly escape out of the situation by stepping towards the open door, leaving the house.

It was dark, he could barely see anything, and even the purple light emitting from the Nasod Dynamos wasn't helping. All of the other teammates pack their things and follow him outside, Ara rubs her arms together and starts to shiver.

"It's…very cold." She gasps, the cold breeze hits Add too, sending a quick shiver up his spine. Eve is the last one to step out of the house, she didn't seem bothered by the cold in the slightest.

Elsword is hit with the next wave of the cold breeze, he hops into his tiptoes, grinding his teeth together.

"W-Why is it so freezing out there?!" He questions, panting out some air and seeing it form in front of him. Eve searches through her database and finds the answer.

"It's the twenty ninth of October, the outdoor temperature is none to drop significantly during this time." She informs everyone, feeling empty knowing that she couldn't feel the sensation of the wind against her skin, she always wondered what it felt like.

Add widens his eyes like it was serious news to him, he shoves his hands into his pockets as Eve walks up to him.

"Really? It's already October? I've seriously lost track of time, I don't even know what day it is."

"Do you not program anything else into your Dynamos except something destructon?"

Add's grins spreads happily across his face.

"Can't say I do,"

Eve leans in closer to him as the other teammates begin talking about the journey ahead, she lowers her voice down to a whisper and turns the other way for a moment, checking that they weren't being eavesdropped.

"Now, tell me." She demands.

"Tell you what?"

"Tell me what's going on with you."

Add folds his arms and his grin disappears, being replaced with an expression of annoyance.

"Why do you even care so much?"

Eve takes a small step backwards and considers the answer to that question, since she never really knew herself. She had never stopped to think over her reasoning, she just felt irritated. Bothered. Worried. Wait, worried? No, she wasn't worried about him. Her emotional circuits never had that programmed inside her, perhaps it was just curiosity.

"Because…" She mutters, carefully considering her next words. "…I promised on that hilltop that I'd help you, since you have saved my life. I'll say now what I said back then, it's the least I can do."

Add expects himself to start laughing and mock her for suggesting she could help him, telling her that he could never talk properly to a Nasod. But the words wouldn't form, he didn't have any desire to say that. He always saw Nasods as simple objects filled with information, but that perspective was gradually fading away. He clears his throat quietly and turns his gaze away from her.

"Seriously, don't talk about that hilltop anymore. Let's just pretend it never happened." He whispers to her, eyeing everyone else in hopes that not even one of them would overhear.

"Why?"

"…because…I cried, remember? That was foolish and childish of me."

"I envy that, actually. I want to know what it's like to cry." She speaks wholeheartedly, taking Add by complete surprise. A Nasod that wanted to feel human emotions?

"You really wouldn't like it, it feels horrible."

"At least I'd still be feeling something."

Eve didn't know why she was suddenly opening so much to him, since when did she want to be more like a human? Humans were feeble. Humans were greedy. Humans were destructive. Humans were-!

Add places his right hand on her shoulder, causing Eve to snap out of her deep thoughts and look up at him. He seemed so tall, and confident. He smiles again, but this smile was far more sensitive and normal than his usual ones.

"Maybe I was wrong about you, perhaps you _can _feel emotions. I still think you'd regret having them, but hey, that's up to you. Nasods are far more fascinating than ever before, I thought I had a good read on you, but you keep surprising me."

"Why is that?"

"It's because I can't see Nasods as just machines anymore. They're something more. Not humans, but a separate race."

Eve's face immediately began to flush, filled with the colour red. She couldn't take it anymore, she turns herself around and pretends that their conversation on emotions was over.

But when she places her hand onto her chest, feeling it warm up inside, she knew that his words had struck her in a place she didn't know she had.

Her heart.


	65. No 56: The Monster I'll Become

**Hello~! Sorry to keep you waiting, here's chapter 56, hopefully this'll make up for the previous filler!**

**Special thanks to tenshi153 and grangus for following and favouriting! Thank you so much for the support, you rock! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

Penensio glares at the cup of tea sitting on his desk, watching the liquid inside ripple from each sound of a distant explosion. He had ordered one of his men to hurry and bring the drink to him, but he realized now that he was in no mood for it.

Stress can ruin a man.

Just like the tea he was staring at, his hands were shaking too. It had become harder and harder to breathe at a normal pace and he couldn't let his mind properly rest when it needed to. His soldiers were not in any better condition either, fear and paranoia had already spread across the army, and they were quickly falling apart.

The only thing Penensio commanded now was a weakened, mostly-dispersed army, so the pressure was weighing down on him even more than when the war first started. There were days when defending Hamel from the White Colossus was their only problem, but now the constant waves of demons trying to invade their kingdom was causing them to keep losing good men.

Penensio had already lost count of how many of his close friends had been brutally killed by the demon army. He felt ashamed and disgraced that this was the case, but he couldn't help it, there were simply too many deaths for him to recall. He wished that he could at least remember each individual that was lost in Hamel's army, but he couldn't even accomplish that.

Someone carefully steps into the entrance of Penensio's tent, poking her head inside to look at the general to make sure she was allowed in.

"You called for me, sir?" The woman in silver armour and red cloaks asks of her superior, Penensio doesn't bother to look behind him at the woman and simply grunts.

"Come in," He commands, and the woman quickly rushes in, grabbing a spare, wooden chair to rest on. She sits down and clears her throat, the General was staring at his tea set, and it looked untouched. "Give me a status report."

"But sir…" She hesitates, moving around awkwardly in her chair. "…I've been informed that you've already gotten a status report thirty minutes ago."

"I want to hear _your _words, Major. You're the one I trust most out of everyone, I want to know what _you_ see out there."

The Major plays with her short, blonde hair. She couldn't help but feel a strong sense of pride when she heard those words, she had been given her high rank by Penensio himself and he was now telling her that her opinions were important.

"Sir, the army is discouraged and are unwilling to fight any longer. There has already been secret talks among the soldiers about fleeing the area, and abandoning Hamel."

"They think our fight is a lost cause." Penensio growls, feeling the rage inside him begin to boil, as their General he couldn't take that kind of information lightly.

"Yes, sir."

"Well, what do you think? Should we leave Hamel, and let the demons take our kingdom away from us?"

The Major leans onto the edge of her seat, upset by the mere thought of handing Hamel over to the cursed hands of the demons. She wasn't weak like the others, her will was far stronger.

"Sir, I will fight by your side till death. You needn't worry about my loyalty."

"I never have." Penensio admits grimly, he wanted to turn around and smile at her to let her know that he truly meant it, but a smile was the last thing he could put on his face right now. "You are too good to me, Major."

"Only as much as you deserve."

Penensio appreciated her loyalty, it was one of the last things he had in this broken-down kingdom, he nods his head and stares at his desk, wondering if he was going to try to drink his tea or not. It was starting to get cold, and the breezy weather of the region wasn't helping.

"Thank you, Major Kushida…" He whispers weakly, addressing her by her rank and last name, he knew her first name but he also knew that it would be rude to call her by it. "So what do you think our next course of action should be?"

Major Kushida thinks over the question for a moment, tapping her index finger on the edge of her chin. She wasn't sure how to speak without making it sound like she was giving commands to her own General, she would never dare do that. She eventually lowers her head and answers.

"I will not lie, the situation is only getting worse and worse. We've kept the smaller, weaker demons out for a while, but our barricades holding them back won't last much longer, and we don't have any more material to make additional ones."

Penensio hums in agreement, he knew just how desperate their battle seemed.

"So, I would personally recommend that we ask the people of Hamel to leave. If those demons get into our kingdom before they have been evacuated from the area, we'll be looking at a large causality count."

"A lot of the people in Hamel are stubborn, not all of them will leave when asked to." He grumbles, half proud of the pride the people had retained and half annoyed that it would be difficult to ask them to retreat. "They can see the danger first hand, and they've even survived the frontal attack by the Colossus eight months ago."

"Yes, but at that time we actually had buildings that could withstand those attacks, nothing is left now but small huts and tents. Even if it will be difficult, we have to keep the people away from the danger."

"Right."

Penensio taps his fingers onto the wooden desk in front of him, releasing a deep sigh as he does so. His subordinate was speaking the truth, he couldn't let the people be in harm's way, even if they wanted to be.

"I'd also recommend asking for backup." Major Kushida says as she shuffles around in her heavy armour, Penensio winces as she tells him that.

"It seems impossible to do that right now, every place has their hands full, they can't afford to send soldiers to other areas."

"I know, but what about the particularly skilled fighters scattered across the land? I've heard of the infamous witch, Speka, and the greatest blade wielder in all of Elrios, Edan. They could definitely help us turn the tides."

"They could." Penensio agrees reluctantly, imagining what the well-known fighters were actually like. "But it'll be difficult to come in contact with them and bring them here, do you have any idea how we can track them down?"

Major Kushida rubs her left arm and turns her gaze away from the General.

"No, sir. I'm afraid I do not. Still, we can send some men to go and find them."

"No, that isn't an option, we need all of our soldiers here. Every man and woman count, we can't lose any of them at a time like this."

"Then I…" The Major mumbles, knowing that it seemed as though this solution she had conjured up wasn't going to work either. "…I don't know what else we can do…"

"Neither do I. We're out of options, Major."

A young man wrapped in light armour bursts into the entrance of the tent, a peculiar expression on his face, he looked flabbergasted.

"General! Major! You seriously won't believe this!" He cheers, a smile now spreading itself along his face, Penensio frowns and glances at the soldier.

Major Kushida almost growls at the soldier, she motions her hand towards the door and glares at the man.

"Have you lost your mind, soldier?! You don't enter the General's tent without permission, leave now!" She barks as a command, the soldier's smile had immediately faded now, but he couldn't bring himself to leave.

"But, we have a visitor!" He protests, almost turning around and running away, the firm stare from the Major had immediately frightened him.

Penensio leaps out of his chair now, an irritated expression on his tired face.

"I thought I told you to put the entire area on lockdown, why the hell have you let someone in?!"

"I know, and we stopped them at first, but after we found out who it is…"

"Well, who is it?!" Penensio barks, not used to the sensation of shouting, and not quite fond of it either.

The soldier blinks a couple of times, gulps down anxiously, and hopes that the two of them would believe him.

"It's the prince,"

* * *

Chung saw the baffled face of the armour-clad knight with brown, spiked hair as he entered the large tent, and he quickly felt embarrassed. He walks onto the expensive-looking, majestically-patterned carpet and places his Destroyer carefully beside him.

An incredible amount of silence followed, and when the rest of the team joined him in the tent, they could feel the awkward atmosphere too. Elsword looks at General Penensio and Major Kushida with uncertainty, perhaps they shouldn't have come without informing them first.

Add and Eve are the last ones to enter the tent, and Add cannot help but chuckle very quickly as he analyses the situation, it all seemed hilarious to him. Though, he immediately shut himself up after Eve punches his secretly in the rib, he gasps for air and acts like he's in extreme agony to tease her.

Chung scratches the back of his head and smiles at Penensio sheepishly, and decides to break the awful silence between them.

"It's…um…great to finally meet you, General Penensio."

"P-Prince Seiker?" Penensio responds, still having trouble swallowing down the fact that the prince had just walked into his tent.

Chung cringes at the name, being painfully reminded that he was, in fact, a prince. He waves his hand dismissively.

"Please, just call me Chung."

Major Kushida drops to her knees, kneeling down directly in front of Chung, she unsheathes her sword and places it onto her left shoulder, while closing her eyes as though she was praying.

"It is an honour to be in your presence, Prince Seiker." She whispers, and Penensio quickly follows suit by kneeling next to her. Chung releases a sigh as he realized that he wasn't going to be called by his first by these two any time soon.

"There's no need to kneel, please, stand up."

Penensio and Kushida do exactly as Chung says and get to their feet, Penensio still had his baffled expression on him.

"We had no idea that you were going to return to Hamel, Prince Seiker, we apologize for meeting you in this state."

Aisha leans her head in, brushing past Rena, and folds her arms.

"And _why_ weren't you expected your prince to come back to his kingdom?" She acts with a raised eyebrow, Penensio hesitates to answer but knows that he has to.

"Because…we thought you were dead, my Prince. We had received many reports about your defeat after you went into the front lines to fight against the Colossus, we feared the worst."

"The Colossus must be quite strong," Raven remarks, looking at his Nasod Arm. Penensio allows his eyes to rest on the scarred man, and he eventually recognizes him.

"Are you Raven?"

"Yes, I am. How do you know that?" Raven replies with a surprised look on his face, he wasn't expecting anyone to know who he was.

"There are plenty of stories about you, Raven."

"Let me guess, are these stories from Velder…?"

"Indeed, do you really have a small blade hidden in your sock for emergences?"

Raven sighs at the question, people were spreading the most stupid and idiotic rumours about him.

"No, I do not."

"Huh,"

Chung clears his throat in a loud manner so that the attention of everyone would be directed back to what he was saying. The prince motions his right hand to the people behind him and smiles.

"As you are probably wondering, these people are my companions, and we're a team."

"I see…" Penensio mumbles, eyeing each member carefully. His eyes stop at Aisha and Rena, and he immediately starts blushing. One of them had quite the large bust size and her green dress wasn't exactly trying to cover that, and the Mage was barely wearing anything at all. "Are you…sure about these people..?"

Penensio's voice was a whisper when he asked that question, but everyone else still heard it perfectly. Chung nods his head without hesitation.

"I would trust each one of them with my life." He states firmly, and Penensio nods back understandingly.

Add was the next person to raise his eyebrow after hearing that statement, he taps Chung's shoulder and chuckles again.

"Are you saying you would also trust _me_ with your life?" He asks with a purple glow in his left eye. He had no idea that someone in the team trusted him that much, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride.

Chung looks back at Penensio and his smile completely fades.

"Well, maybe not _all_ of them."

And Add's sense of pride turned out to be short-lived, he snorts in an annoyed fashion and starts tapping on one of the Dynamo's holograms.

Elesis steps forward, even brushing Chung behind her, and folds her arms seriously. Her stare was certain and confident.

"So," She starts with a sharp tone, her commanding presence and aura immediately grabbed hold of everyone's attention. "Let's discuss the battle against the demons, we've come here to back you up, so expect us to be on the front lines."

* * *

"How dare they not allow us inside!" Lu complains angrily, waving her arms about in a tantrum, Ciel sighs as he stares at the devastation around them.

Both Lu and Ciel were standing directly outside the blue-striped tent that the team were in, talking to the people in charge. Elesis had warned them not to come inside, as they wouldn't take the presence of demons too lightly, and that there was a chance that they would sense the demonic energy within the two of them. Ciel had agreed without hesitation, understanding that a half-demon such as himself had no business with the soldiers of Hamel, but Lu wasn't exactly thrilled about the situation.

"You know how things are, Lu. They only told us to stay outside because they worry about us, our safety would be compromised in there." Ciel responds quietly, his hands in his pockets. His earrings swung from side to side as he turns his head around to observe his surroundings.

It was horrible and depressing to him, there were barely any buildings left standing, and the ones that were standing were only hanging by a thread. He knew that demons by themselves wouldn't be able to achieve such destruction, but he also knew that the sheer number of them wasn't to be underestimated.

"Still, it's humiliating for royalty like me to listen to a mere human like that 'Elesis' woman!" She huffs, her face still tinted red with rage. Ciel pulls his right hand out of his pocket and uses it to pat Lu's head softly, before brushing it through his own white hair, still finding it hard to believe that his hair had changed colour.

"Say, that reminds me, just who took charge of the demons after you were betrayed?" He questions, wanting answers for the destruction and death that the demon army had been causing.

Lu shrugs casually, looking at the ruins around her without worries.

"Beats me, I fell out of the Demon Realm. I have no way of knowing what goes on there anymore…" She trails off, remembering Merisalla, her faithful servant that somehow turned against her, and becomes reminded of what was said back then. "…although…one of my old friends that backstabbed me told me that the demons had found someone better than me, some kind of male demon that they saw as 'worthy'."

The disgust in her voice was clear, and Ciel immediately felt regret for making Lu look back at her terrible past. But he also had a slightly better idea of what was going on.

"That would explain how the demons are able to cause so much damage now, they must have someone leading them all, someone that has given them strength."

"I can't wait to meet the guy that took my rightful title." She growls with a false smile on her small face, she wraps her petite body with her arms for comfort and glares straight ahead. "I'll make sure he suffers."

"Now, now." Ciel scolds, wagging his index finger in front of her. "You will have your revenge, but remember that you need to be a different person compared to back then, otherwise you might lose your title again. Don't be a tyrant, be their leader, guide them."

Lu cannot help but blush when she hears his wise words, he was right, she needed to be someone new. Lu realized it now. She was a warrior fighting for her throne, with Ciel being her sword that can cut down anything for her, but that sword will leave her if he believes that she isn't righteous.

Though Ciel didn't really seem like a simple weapon at her disposal anymore. A sword is something that you can discard at any moment without hesitation, but Lu knew that she could never do that to Ciel. She was small and ferocious, while Ciel was tall and calm.

He completed her, both metaphorically and literally, though she knew she could never admit that to Ciel, it would be far too embarrassing and it might go to his head. She nudges his arm with her tiny and skinny elbow and grins.

"You look like you want to be my lecturer or something,"

"I don't wish to insult, but you do need one. A second opinion, if you will."

"I suppose so," Lu mumbles, shrugging her shoulders again. She readjusts her blue, exquisite dress and sighs. "This attire is incredibly uncomfortable."

"But it looks wonderful on you,"

"Everything looks wonderful on me, Ciel!" She retorts as though she had been deliberately insulted.

"Of course,"

"Now, make me some tea!"

Ciel looks over to Lu with widened eyes, he blinks a few times before responding.

"I…cannot make tea out of thin air."

"Well, learn to!"

"It's not that simple."

"But summoning a massive gun into your hands is? If you can make that out of thin air, I'm sure you can make tea too. You just don't want it enough." She scoffs, Ciel stays silent for a moment to check if she was just kidding with him.

She obviously wasn't.

Ciel lowers his head and chuckles instead of groaning, she was extremely intelligent yet clueless about the ways of the world at the same time.

"You're just too adorable." He blurts out, not meaning to say it so bluntly, but Lu takes the compliment as though she has heard it a million times and giggles, looking at Ciel with her deep blue eyes.

"I know,"

Ciel smiles at her response and wonders why he felt so relaxed around her. It didn't feel like babysitting a spoiled child like it used to, it now felt like watching out for an energetic, little sister.

"But I was thinking, Lu, what did you think of-?" Ciel starts to question, wanting to know Lu's opinion on the White Colossus that they would soon be facing.

Ciel stops the second his right ear begins to twitch, he could hear the faint sounds of footsteps slowly advancing towards him from behind. He listens to the footsteps with his heightened senses, thanks to the demonic energy flowing through him, and makes a deduction. The footsteps sounded irregular and quite fast in pace, but quiet enough for Ciel to know that the person was trying to sneak up on them.

The assassin quickly turns around and pulls out a throwing knife, letting it fly straight like a dart at the location of the noise.

A dark figure hiding in the shadows of the nearby tent doesn't attempt to dodge the knife and instead catches it in mid-air without trouble. Ciel steps back and senses a shiver slither up his spine, someone had actually caught a knife he had threw that fast. He straightens himself from his throwing position and regains his composure.

"We know you're there, you cannot hide any longer."

A cackling, grinning man steps carefully out of the shadows and glares at the small girl and tall man, his memories of them rushing through his shattered mind. He reveals the black sclera in his eyes and holds out a calm hand for them.

"Oh, I wasn't planning on hiding."

* * *

Inside the tent, Elesis had already taken a wooden chair for herself and had begun to tell Penensio what their strategy should be, disregarding the fact that he had a higher rank than her. Penensio said nothing, however, as he knew very well how many battles had been won thanks to her expertise.

Elesis presses the index finger of her left hand onto the large map resting on one of the desks, dragging it across as she speaks.

"You should move your barricades to these areas instead of where they are right now, it's only logical." She informs Penensio, her red eyes skimming through the contents of the map, trying to memorize it all.

"But then we'll be unprotected there." Penensio grumbles back, Elesis shakes her head in disagreement.

"You obviously cannot have barricades everywhere, you're on a low supply right now. You need to have soldiers placed at whatever areas are not protected, it's your only option."

"…but our soldiers are mostly…unwilling to fight anymore. Their motivation is gone, their fighting spirit is no more." Penensio admits with shame, a knot gathering up in his throat.

Chung slams his Destroyer firmly onto the ground and gives Penensio a stern look, he needed to be Hamel's prince, now more than ever.

"The Prince has returned, I shall rekindle the fire in their hearts, don't worry about that."

Major Kushida brushes her blonde hair out of her face and nods slowly.

"Indeed. Once they found out that the Prince and the final Guardian has returned to the battlefield, they will not hesitate to fight by his side."

"But that will mean that you cannot be at the front lines of the group that will take down the Demon Commanders. You'll need to stay behind and fight alongside your people, battling the ordinary demons so that they do not get inside Hamel." Elesis adds, waiting for Chung's response. Chung nods his head without hesitation.

"Not a problem."

Rena smiles happily at Chung's determination, and Raven gave a short-lived grin as well, being reminded of the days when he was that firm and dedicated.

"Then I think we have a basic plan to work with for now." Raven finishes for everyone, General Penensio and Major Kushida give each other a quick glance and stand up from their seats.

"I concur, this could work." Penensio states as he folds his arms, Elesis shrugs and grabs her Claymore that was leaning against her chair.

"It should do for now. We can decide how we'll take down the Demon Commanders later."

Add's eyes wander across the entire room, admiring everything inside. He wasn't interested in the slightest about how he was going to kill demons, he just wanted to do it sometime soon. He plays with a single curl pointing out of his white hair.

Glave was always watching, he was sure of that. Whatever it was that he possessed that could help Add reach his goal, he wanted now more than ever, since he had nothing else to care about. The fall of Hamel didn't bother him, and he wasn't thrilled to be saving other people's lives, he only killed demons to push the Nasod Dynamo's to its limits. Eve used to be interesting to him, but he knew she would never let him have the codes that she had tucked away in that core of hers.

A loud beep suddenly gets everyone's attention, and Eve, who was standing directly next to him, looks at the Dynamos hovering behind Add. Purple electricity flashed out of the Nasod Dynamos violently, and the beeping continued, gradually becoming louder and louder.

"Add? Is something wrong?" Ara asks as she raises an eyebrow and looks at him, Add frowns in confusion and shakes his head.

"No, but the Nasod Dynamos are making noise for some reason…" He mutters, glaring down at his machines, the Nasod Dynamos had never done this before, and Add had never programmed it to beep in the way it was doing it right now.

"Well, could you find a way to make it be quiet? We're trying to think, here." Elesis groans as she loses her track of thought, Add shoots a stare back at her.

"It's not like I'm doing this on purpose."

"Just make it stop." Draco commands as the beeping sounds starts to irritate him.

Add holds out his right hand and flicks his wrist, summoning a blue hologram displaying information on it. He skims through it for a few seconds, flipping each page of information to the next one.

His mouth drops down, his eyes widen. He glances at everyone in the tent for long amount of time before lowering his head and staring at the codes written on the hologram.

"It…it can't be…this shouldn't be possible…" Add whispers so quietly that Eve almost fails to hear him, she places her hand onto his and looks at his expression. This was something serious.

"What is it, Add? What does it say?"

Add scratches the back of his head and stumbles backwards a few steps, still looking at the hologram.

"It says…that it's detecting a Nasod signature." He explains, Aisha tilts her head.

"Isn't it just detecting Eve?"

"No, it isn't."

"How do you know that?" Aisha questions again, clutching her staff nervously against her chest now. That baffled look on Add's face wasn't settling.

"Because it says it's a specific signature…it's detecting…" He mumbles, looking at the blue screen one last time for confirmation. "It's detecting another set of Nasod Dynamos…"

"Other Nasod Dynamos?! But you're the only one who possesses them!" Elesis shouts back, unable to understand the current situation.

"Evidently not," Eve responses, hiding back her shock quite well.

"That's why I'm saying it's impossible…" Add whispers again, he glares at the hologram that was detected another Nasod Dynamo and reads the location. "It says the other Nasod Dynamo is directly outside."

"Add…" Ara gasps, remembering the other Add that she had seen in her trials at the time-space continuum. It had to be him. There was no other explanation.

Chung turns his head to everyone else and thinks the exact same thing that Ara was. The man with the empty eyes was right outside their tent? He drops his Destroyer as his entire body becomes paralyzed.

Add straightens his white jacket and readjusts his ponytail before walking over to the exit of tent and carefully stepping outside.

The bright sun's rays blind him for a few moments and he has to squint his eyes slightly to see properly. Eve and Elesis quickly rush outside behind Add to see what he came out to look at, and drop their weapons the moment they see what was standing right in front of them. Add sees them both look at the sight in horror, and he looks for himself.

His eyes meet a reflection of him standing there with a set of Dynamos floating behind him, a large smirk spread on his face. He was covered in black and purple armour, and his black Dynamos circling behind him point towards Add threateningly.

Right next to the man's feet was a bleeding Ciel lying on the floor, his Gunblades rolling across the ground. And Lu, who was almost unconscious, being held in the man's right hand by her white hair.

Lu gasps weakly in agony as the man pulls harder on her hair and steps closer towards Add. The dark figure glares directly into Add's eyes with his own, and shows his dark scleras. Add senses his heart start to race, and the blood dripping out of the figure's hand almost made him fall to his knees.

The dark figure moves one step closer, chucks Lu to the ground, kicks Ciel to the side and clenches his bloody hands into fists.

"**Hello, Add. Recognize me?" **


	66. Author's Notification 2

**Hello, Zacaro here, and I just want to give a few updates here and now for those who don't know this already C:**

**Firstly, before all of the other stuff, Happy Halloween~! The spookiest (is that a word...?) day of the year! C: I seriously hope you have fun today and that your costume (if you're wearing one) is awesome! I'll be trick or treating today as a zombie, and I even have some special makeup to make it look as scary as possible.**

**I was originally planning for a special Halloween chapter for the story, but unfortunately I've gotten a cold (it's getting pretty chilly these days, huh?) and I have a headache that just won't quit. Hopefully I can make it up with the next upcoming chapter, but I don't think I'll be able to work on that either until I lose this headache of mine.**

**Secondly, I'd just like to inform you that this story is already around 65% complete (it went by fast...) and that it will have multiple endings.**

**Yes, that's right, multiple endings. One ending for Ciel, one ending for Lu, and one ending that's gonna be very special ;) I already have a pretty good idea of how each ending will go, but I cannot say anymore as I seriously don't want to spoil it.**

**Also, I ****_might_**** start working on one-shots for Elsword (the game, not the character) that won't be connected to this story in any sort of way but I'm not really sure yet. I'd like to expand on Glave's and Luto's backstories, and also write more about Draco (the OC) and how his life was before he became a human.**

**I've got different ideas, but I'm not sure if it'll happen or when it will happen, I would just like to inform you about it so that it doesn't come as a surprise if I decide to do it.**

**Well, that's all for now, thank you very much for your time.**

**And for your constant support in the reviews and by following this story, you're my motivation and I cannot thank you enough, the words of my gratitude escape me.**

**'Till next time~! C:**

**Zacaro.**


	67. No 57: Rebirth of Insanity

**Hello all, here's chapter 57, I hope you enjoy~**

**Special thanks to Maxxamilium and ILikeTrains4Life for following/favouriting/reviewing! You rock! Welcome to the family, I hope I don't disappoint!**

**And about your wonderful and supportive reviews, I do read them, all of them. But I'll only reply to ones that have questions, as it would bother people if I kept replying to them.**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

Add stares at the cackling man in front of him in a daze, he doesn't have a single clue who this man is, and it felt strange to him that he'd be asked to recall who he is. He places his hands into his pockets, looking into the piercing, purple eyes of the man before him.

"I'm afraid I have no idea, who the heck are you?" Add eventually shrugs, speaking in a casual manner. He glances down at Lu who was holding her hair in pain, and Ciel who was basically lying down in his own blood.

The tall, blood-drenched man standing on top of Ciel stops his laughter and places his right hand on his chest.

"That's quite cold of you, Add. How could you not recognize me?"

"I'm pretty sure we've never met before."

The empty-eyed man smiles happily now, he glares at Elsword, Aisha, and Rena that were now standing behind Add with shocked expressions.

"Well, you can just call me Aizen. It's not my real name, but I like it."

"Alright, Aizen, could you get off those two for a moment? They're sort of important to these idiots." Add grumbles, not wanting to be the one to ask. He points to his teammates behind him, much to Aisha's anger.

"Oh, these weaklings? I just wanted to teach them a lesson, they have no idea what true power is." Aizen chuckles, kicking the two of them across the ground and towards Elsword.

The Knight stares silently as he watches the Duo cough and groan in agony, he couldn't hold it in. His temper was taking over. He couldn't just stand by and let people hurt his teammates.

"You'll pay for that! Sword Fire!" He roars as he leaps forward and stabs his sword into the ground, using his magic to summon a burst of flames to erupt around him.

Aizen watches the fire hurdle towards him in a bored fashion, he waits until the fire almost reaches his feet before snapping his fingers, his black Dynamos materialize a purple distortion in front of him, and Aizen jumps into it.

He teleports away from the fire by using the purple distortion and snaps his fingers again, immediately causing the flames to fade away in an instant.

"Reverse Circle!"

"Wha-?!" Elsword whispers under his breath, blinking in disbelief as his attack is quickly rendered useless.

"Oh, come on, Elsword! That's all you've got?! You're supposed to be far more powerful than that!" Aizen giggles playfully, standing back on the ground again.

Add stares at the purple energy and the peculiar Nasod Dynamos that Aizen possesses and starts to gasp weakly, taking a quick step back and holding his head in both of his hands.

"That…that was…a time distortion…?" Add mutters, feeling his entire body begin to shiver from head to toe, Aizen nods his head slowly and laughs.

"So, you're beginning to understand now?"

Add shakes his head and looks at all of his friends anxiously, his eyes lingering for a couple seconds longer on Eve's expressionless face. He eventually looks back at Aizen and his black scleras, unable to fathom the situation.

"It shouldn't be possible…but if you have Dynamos too…and you can control time and space…then-!" The Mastermind gulps, having no desire to see what he was about to. "-you're...me…?"

Aizen raises his head to the sky and laughs at it, shrieking in absolute delight. He had been waiting so long for Add to realize what was going on, he holds out his right hand and summons a miniature, purple distortion into its palm.

"That's right,"

Add's eyes widen and he starts to feel weak in his knees, he almost drops to the ground but Eve catches him and holds him in her arms before he can do so.

"Add, please pull yourself together. This man could just be an illusion sent by Glave." She states, her monotone voice not changing in the slightest. She didn't feel the true weight of the situation.

"Oh? That's an interesting theory, do you want to test it? Come on, Eve, let's have a bit of fun!" Aizen cheers, flicking his wrist to get the black Dynamos to circle behind me ominously.

Eve gently lets go of Add, allow Rena to grab hold of him instead, and summons Oberon to her side.

"With pleasure, Space Wrench." She whispers to her servant. Oberon immediately obeys his Queen's wishes and jumps into the air, firing an X-shaped shockwave at his target.

"Hmm, interesting! But how about this?! Gravity Buster!" He screams at the Nasod Queen, materializing a gravitational field to press down on her.

Oberon crashes into the ground by the purple field of energy, and Eve gets thrown backwards and across the floor, Aisha yells out her name worriedly, but Eve could no longer hear anyone. She lies onto the cold, rough ground and stares at the broken-down Oberon lying beside her.

Add pushes Rena away from himself and rushes up to Eve, holding her head in his arms, cradling her like a baby.

"Eve!" He cries out, much to Aizen's surprise.

"What are you acting all sad about? She's just an Nasod, a machine filled with lines of computer code, she isn't sentient." Aizen sniffs, casually beginning to hover in the air, his black scleras staring into Add's.

Add glares right back at the empty-eyed man and lets go of Eve, snapping his own fingers to get his thin, purple Dynamos to fly behind him in an organized manner.

"No," He whispers to Aizen, tears gradually starting to roll down his cheek and onto the purple scar on the left side of his face.

"No, what?" Aizen questions with a raised eyebrow, wondering why Add was no longer hesitating to maintain eye contact with him.

"No, you're not me."

"Why not?" Aizen responds with frustration now, his smile completely gone.

"Because, I would never hurt Eve."

Aizen's eyes widen now, his heart beating slightly faster in his glowing, purple chest. Seeing his past self acting so righteous and sentimental towards things he shouldn't had confused him, and he couldn't properly think straight.

"Why? Why are you like this? I was never like the way you are!" Aizen growls, his Nasod Dynamos beginning to spiral around him again threateningly. Add decides not to bother answering his question, and starts charging up electrical energy into his hands.

A purple, energetic armour materializes around Add, the Nasod Armour. It curls itself entirely around his skinny body, and concentrates most of its power into Add's palms. Add then runs forwards, kicking a ball of energy into the ground below.

"Quake Buster!" He exclaims in rage, watching as the ball of energy surges violently through the ground and causes a series of explosions, Aizen flies back on his Dynamos, dodging most of them.

But the final explosion coming from the ground crashes into Aizen's right arm, Aizen almost falls off of his Nasod Dynamos from the extreme agony he was experiencing, but retains his balance with a bit of struggle. Add quickly leaps onto his own Dynamos and begins a mid-air pursuit, the two Adds brutally exchanging punches.

Add thought that with both the Nasod Armour and the advanced artificial intelligence, he'd be able to take this strange man down, but Aizen's blows were much stronger, and as Add forcefully spits out some of his own blood, he realizes that he wasn't strong enough to do this on his own.

"Damn…it! Even with the Nasod Armour, your attacks still do damage to me?!" Add screams as he flies above Aizen and collides with him, throwing both of them into the dirt of the ground. They both rocket into the rocks and sand below, causing a large explosion at the collision.

Some of the dust gets into Add's eyes, but he frantically blinks them away and punches Aizen in the face twice while he's down, Aizen seemed bored yet irritated, it was pissing him off that his past self was actually beating himself up.

"Get off me, Moonlight Rhapsody!" Aizen hisses out through his clenched teeth, he grabs Add by his white coat and kicks him off, following it with a purple force field that chucks him backwards and into Elsword, the Knight groans as he pushes Add off and gets to his feet.

"Add, you can't take this guy down by himself, let us help." Elsword speaks as a command to Add as he rubs his bruised head and points to Chung, Ara, and Elesis standing behind him.

"No point, he can cancel out all of your attacks with his time-space abilities, you're all useless right now!" Add snaps back, brushing the dirt off of his coat and summoning the Nasod Dynamos back to his side. "The only thing _his _Dynamos aren't ready for is something similar to its own power."

"A-Add…" Eve whispers, her eyes just barely open. She reaches her hand out for Add as she attempts to get off the ground, but Add refuses it as he stands on his Dynamos again.

"Don't worry, Eve. This'll be over soon."

"There's no reason for the two of us to fight, Add. I just wanted to talk to you, you know. Your friends attacked me by their own choice, I simply put them in their place." Aizen says, trying to justify his own actions. He lands back onto the ground and smiles again. "Come on, let's just talk for a bit, what do you say?"

"Go to hell. Dynamos Installation, Shooting Chaser!" Add spits back as his Nasod Dynamos transform into hovering drones, firing down purple lazers onto Aizen. Aizen blocks the attack with a simple snap of his fingers, summoning a black distortion of space around him.

"Tsk, tsk. Is this really how you want to play it? I can kill you in a matter of seconds, you _seriously _don't want to tick me off. You can't hurt me anyway." Aizen chuckles as he watches Elesis grip the edge of her Claymore with frustration. She wanted to fight, in fact, they all did, but they knew that Add was right. They couldn't do anything right now.

Add actually smiles back to Aizen, this smile being a smug and all-knowing one as observes the other set of Nasod Dynamos of the empty-eyed man.

"I wasn't trying to hurt you,"

"Hm? Then what was that all for?"

"I was testing you, and seeing just what you can do."

Aizen starts to frown, seeing the fire of confidence burst in Add's eyes. He had never seen that kind of stare before, and it began to make him feel uneasy.

"You were…testing me?"

"Yes, and what I found out is quite interesting. Firstly, you're holding most of your power back, and I'm assuming it's because you don't want to kill your past self. That wouldn't be very clever, would it? Secondly, there were plenty of opportunities for you to use your own Nasod Armour or other powers there, but you only used your time and space abilities."

Aizen's expression was now filled with rage, and he begins to grit his teeth angrily. Elsword tilts his head to the side slightly, still holding a firm grip on his sword, and decides to speak.

"What are you trying to say…?"

"What I'm trying to say is that you-" Add laughs now, looking at the baffled Knight for a moment before staring at Aizen again. "-do not possess any of the other powers of the Nasod Dynamos. You don't have the Nasod Armour nor the artificial intelligence I recently installed."

"But how can your future self not have those abilities if you do?" Chung questions with a raised eyebrow, lifting up Eve carefully while Rena picks up Oberon.

"Keh, I'm afraid I haven't figured out that part yet, but give me a while, it'll come to me." Add responds, not taking his eyes off the angered Aizen standing before him.

"So, this wasn't about me hitting Eve? This was just a little experiment to find out more about me?" Aizen asks, his black Dynamos still in a read, beckoning position. Add smug grin now fades in an instant, and his excited expression gone. He clenches his right hand into a fist and takes a couple of steps towards Aizen.

"Oh, no. I'm still livid about that. I'll beat the living shit out of you before I end your life." Add growls, surprising his teammates, and the barely-conscious Eve, with his hateful tone. Rena starts to secretly pull her strapped bow off of her back and awkwardly in her hands, she stands carefully behind Raven so that she's mostly hidden and charges a magical arrow.

Raven hears the strange, high-pitched noise of magic being powered and gathered and turns his head around slowly, looking at the anxious Elf standing close to him. He hadn't unsheathed his blade yet, he believed that Add would be able to easily handle something like this, but that expression on Rena's face had suddenly given him a change of heart.

"What are you doing?" He whispers as quietly as he can so that neither Add nor Aizen would be able to hear them. The two Adds were still talking to each other, their Nasod Dynamos ready to battle again at any moment, they wouldn't be heard like this. "Add told us already, that man can cancel out whatever we can throw at him."

"Yes, but no matter how strong he's supposed to be, he cannot stop an attack if he doesn't see it coming, right?"

Raven stares into her green, wondrous, prepossessing eyes and gulps down his saliva as a large drop of sweat rolls down his face. He could warn Rena that she shouldn't risk it, that Aizen would try to attack her if she tried to help Add out. But he simply couldn't bring himself to say such things, it's as though the words refused to come out of his mouth. He growls in irritation for a few seconds before nodding his head at her.

"Fine, but make sure the moment is exactly right."

"I will," Rena promises, looking back at her bow and charging up more magic into her arrow, the arrow very gradually materializes into a white one, filled with the attribute of ice. Even if the arrow didn't do much damage to Aizen, it would still freeze him long enough for Add to take him out.

"Are you sure you want to kill me? I _am _what you'll become pretty soon, you'll just be killing yourself. That will be your future." Aizen insists, not wanting to fight against Add any longer, he had already spent too much time exchanging blows with him, he was starting to wonder if he was changing history too much.

"Then I'll change my future, it's constantly being morphed and warped into different things, isn't it? I'll kill you here and now, and swear to myself that I'll never go back in time to see my younger self. Seems simple to me."

"The future isn't easy to change. Ordinary people can't just do it when they feel like it."

"But you seem to forget, I'm not the common wealth!" Add laughs as he barks those words at him. He believed in what he says completely, he isn't ordinary, and he'll never be ordinary. He had already proved that to both his friends and to all of the pathetic demons he had slayed. "Panzer Buster!"

Add swings his right hand out, pointing it directly at Aizen, and his Nasod Dynamos quickly form in front of it, generating electrical energy. A massive beam of Nasod power forms into the palm of Add's hand and fires straight at Aizen.

Aizen glances at the attack as though it was just an insect trying to hurt a beast, the lazer seemed so feeble and weak to him, just like his past self. He flicks his wrist to get his Dynamos to do his bidding again, and commands them to rip open a gate in front of him. The beam coming from Add's Dynamos quickly goes into the purple gate and disappears.

Aizen prepares himself for a witty comeback or something else to say as he destroys Add's attack, but almost trips over himself as he notices Add flying straight towards him with a clenched fist. Aizen raises his arms in front of himself defensively but the punch breaks through it, colliding right into his face. The fist was reinforced with the power of the Nasod Armour, and it stings like hell as it smashes into his right cheek.

Aizen slides backwards across the ground, holding his cheek and panting heavily. He could already feel the area where he was punched swelling up, and it quickly makes him lose it.

"You'll pay for that, Maximum Strike!" Aizen shrieks as he materializes six spatiotemporal spheres around him, all of them distorted and glowing from the time-space energy its fuelled by. All six of them rocket towards Add at the same time, and at blinding speeds.

"Now!" Rena yells, jumping away from behind Raven and holding her bow up high, pointing her arrow at the defenceless Aizen, he had used up too much energy creating those energy balls, he wouldn't be able to stop it now.

But Rena's fingers hesitate to let go of the arrow and let it fly. She could clearly see Aizen's face now, it was exactly like Add's but tired and filled with discountenance, as though he had lost everything he had ever cared about, and her heart tells her she shouldn't fire at him. She was the one who felt sorry for Add, and saw the good in him. It was buried deep within that shattered, broken mind and heart of his, but it was still there and real. She couldn't feel that same hope in Aizen, but she also couldn't hurt someone who looks just like Add.

Add's screams of pain snaps Rena back into the fight again, all of the spheres had hit Add before he could get the Nasod Armour to protect him, and small drops of crimson red blood was now all over his arms and legs, smearing and staining his white coat. The moment Rena sees Add bleeding, her fingers let go of her grip on her magical arrow and it flies at Aizen, stabbing him in his right knee.

"_Graaaah!" _Aizen cries out with a blood-gurgling scream as the arrow cuts into his skin and pierces through his bones. The pain's absolutely excruciating, and Aizen feels the insides of his leg becoming frozen. The magic was taking affect just like Rena knew it would, he's now in pain and his right leg in covered with ice.

"Rena?!" Add shouts at the Elf's name, looking at her with widened eyes, completely shocked by her sudden attack. Rena knows that there's no time to explain why she got herself involved and points to the injured Aizen, still screaming out as the arrow in his leg becomes wedged inside.

"Just attack him, this is your chance!"

Add quickly nods as he looks back to Aizen, she's right. This is the perfect opportunity for him, he should stop wasting time and take it.

He charges up as much Nasod power that he can as he dashes to his compromised enemy, the Dynamos spin crazily around him, giving everything it has to make the next attack stronger than ever. Add looks back at his machines, seeing the small puffs of smoke emitting from them. The Nasod Dynamos were being overexerted and it was obvious that it wasn't going to last that much longer. He knew that after this attack, the Dynamos would probably be unable to do anything more, he needed to use this next attack wisely, or Aizen will be able to do as he pleases.

And Add won't be able to take what Aizen possesses.

"This is it for you, I hope you've said your prayers, because it's about time I-!" Add starts to roar at the empty-eyed man, almost at the perfect distance to unleash his final attack. Aizen glares at his past self hatefully and clenches his leg harder, watching him get closer.

"Oh no, you don't!" Lu screams, jumping in front of Add and pushing him to the side, Add tumbles across the ground clumsily and finally lands on his head, only to see Ciel running faithfully right behind the tiny girl.

"Apologizes, Add, but I cannot allow anyone to bring harm to Lu, this man will suffer by our hands." Ciel states as calmly as he can, trying to mask the anger and rage burning in his entire body. He brushes his white and blue hair out of his eyes and summons his energy blaster. "Ready, Lu?"

"You betcha! This fool will pay! Fantasy Impromptu, Second Movement!" She giggles in a cute fashion, ignoring the searing pain beating in her head, she still felt a little dizzy, but she was raring to go.

Ciel begins to fire several magical bullets to scatter around them, summoning two more blasters be his side to get the job done quicker, and fills their surroundings with multiple shots of pure, demonic energy. Lu smiles at the sight, admiring just how powerful her servant had gotten, and then snaps her fingers, detonating the bullets.

The explosion is gargantuan, and the last thing Elsword and the others see as they stare with their gaping mouths is Aizen's ragdoll-like, armoured body being flung out of the blast, dropping motionlessly to the ground, his eyes completely closed. His black sclera no longer visible.

Aizen can still feel the unbearable coming from his legs, and as he gradually regains consciousness, he glances down at it and holds it with both of his hands. A simple arrow wouldn't have caused him so much pain, but the arrow had frozen his blood and muscles from the inside, which he now knew was absolutely agonizing. He slowly opens his eyes, feeling the dust settling on his face. He knew where he was now, he was lying on the ground, on his back, like a weakling. He attempts to lift himself up, but to no avail.

Lu and Ciel walk over to him, and Ciel's foot stays painfully on his chest. Aizen chuckles dryly, seeing their angered and serious expressions. Just moments ago _they _were on the floor, and _his _foot was on _them_.

"Funny how things turn out, huh?" He whispers, groaning a few times between each word. Lu folds her small arms and looks at him as though he's a piece of garbage, nothing more.

"Do you see us laughing?" She hisses back, her white, fluffy hair swaying from side to side. Ciel rests one of his Gunblades onto his right shoulder and presses his foot down on Aizen's chest, causing a yelp of pain to come from him.

"You underestimated your own power, that was your ultimate downfall."

"I'm a god." Aizen snaps back, staring weakly at the black Dynamos lying on the ground beside him, Ciel shakes his head and doesn't even bother to look at Aizen in the eyes anymore.

"No one is a god." He retorts, finally taking his foot off of Aizen, letting the man breathe and gasp again. He was now relieved off that pain, but the pain in his leg was still very much there, it wasn't leaving any time soon.

"I don't know about that." Add cackles, his concerned look completely gone now as he walks up to Lu and Ciel, and the fallen Aizen. Add had his familiar smile right back on his face, and he stands in front of his teammates, looking down at his future self. "With enough power, anyone can reach their full potential."

Ciel raises his left eyebrow, wondering why Add was disagreeing with them. He turns his head back to the Elgang and sees them all tending to Eve, who now had her eyes closed, looking like she had fainted. It was interesting to see just how worried they were when one of their own would fall, it always set him at ease.

"Come on, let's leave him and see how Eve is doing." Ciel mutters, sheathed his Gunblades behind his back, talking to both Lu and Add.

Lu quickly does exactly that and walks alongside her servant, but Add stays exactly where he is, standing above Aizen. Ciel slowly turns himself to look at him.

"Hey, let's go already."

"Why did you come here? Why did you want to talk to me?" Add whispers to Aizen, ignoring the assassin and the demonic girl, he could no longer hear their words. The only thing his focus was on now was his future self, staring right back at him. He stares at the glowing core of Aizen with interest, and waits for a response.

"I made a deal with Glave," Aizen eventually starts to speak, deciding no harm would come of telling Add what had happened so far. "He wants to overthrow his master and become the sole protector of the time and space continuum, and I wanted to research it, so I decided to help him."

"But you already have the power to move through time and space, what else could you possibly need?" Add asks in a frustrated manner, not following. Aizen spits out some of his own blood and shakes his head.

"It may seem like I can do what I want, but I cannot. There are things I simply cannot have no matter how hard I try, like Mother."

"What?! How come you couldn't save her?!" Add screams back as a question, Ciel and Lu looking quite worried and anxious now. They wanted to call his name again and ask him to just leave Aizen where he is, but they knew that Add wouldn't listen to them right now.

Aizen smiles now, sensing the feeling of nostalgia by witnessing his younger self's ignorance. His smile is calm, and he shakes his head once more.

"You'll understand soon. Even with the power of time and space, I cannot go back to our home. It's out of my reach."

"And _that's _why you made a deal with Glave, to find another way to get to Mother?"

"Yes,"

"But why come to me?"

"Because, I needed help to keep my end of the deal for Glave, and the only one smart enough to assist me is, well, me."

"You wanted my help?"

"I still do." Aizen mumbles, pointing weakly towards his fallen Dynamos, his smile gone again now. Add looks at what he's pointing at and slowly starts to put two and two together. "We can built a copy of my Nasod Dynamos so that you can have my powers too, it'll take some time…but-"

"No."

"Huh?"

"I don't want to work another couple of months just to get what I want, and I have no desire of working alongside you. There can only be one Add, you shouldn't be here."

"You cannot refuse me!" Aizen growls, trying to protest, spitting out more of his blood in the process. "You'll never have my powers if you don't accept."

"Wrong. I can, and I will. I know exactly where your power is coming from, it's coming from your chest, isn't it?" Add asks in a sinister manner, leaning in closer to Aizen, staring at his scleras.

"What are you planning?!"

"This," Add giggles, pulling his right hand out of his white coat's pocket.

The sight that the Elgang see when turning to look at Add and Aizen is absolutely horrifying.

Add shoves his hand into Aizen's purple, glowing chest, causing Aizen to shriek out as loud as he can, almost deafening them. Add doesn't stop there though, he reaches down deeper into his future self's chest, moving his hand around his insides as he tries to find the source of Aizen's power. The screams only get louder the more Add searches with his hand, but Add fails to hear them. He doesn't care.

His hand finally finds something at the very centre of Aizen's chest, and Add pulls his arm out with the object in his palm, becoming showered in Aizen's blood as he does so. His white coat becomes drenched from the flying liquid, and Add's face gets the crimson blood all over himself too.

Add stares as Aizen stops shrieking and closes his eyes, going limp, dead. But his eyes don't linger for very long on the corpse. He now glares at the purple necklace in his right hand, it glows ominously and Add immediately remembers what it is. His Mother's necklace, the one he was given on one of his birthdays. It immediately began to send images of his Mother into his head. Her beautiful laugh, her flowing, dancing white hair, her supportive smile, her calming voice. He wanted to hear, see and feel it all again. And he would, even if it meant abandoning his 'friends'. They wouldn't miss him for very long, and he's pretty sure that Glave won't dare to bother him any time soon now.

Add holds out the necklace with a Cheshire grin on his face, plastered from ear to ear. Ciel takes a few hesitant steps back, almost throwing up as he looks at the blood-covered Add, and Lu hides behind him, frightened.

Blood drips down Add's face, mostly around the edges of his eyes, making it look like he's crying out the red liquid, he tilts his head to the side and stares at his necklace, as though hypnotized by it.

**"Anyone can become God."**


	68. No 58: The New King

**Hello guys, how are you? I'm sorry that it's been some time since I've last posted a chapter, but here's one for you~! C:**

**I also have an important notice to give. Next week is going to be midterm exam week for me, and you know what that means. I'm going to have to spend all of my time studying instead of writing, so the next chapter might take a little longer than usual, you know how exams are...**

**But not to fear, I have very special things planned for upcoming chapters, I won't let you down!**

**Oh, and to Yoshida-kun, I'm sorry that I left you unsatisfied, but I promise future chapters will have things more to your liking~!**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

Chung hadn't seen the team so distraught before, and the feeling was slowly settling on him as well.

It had been three days since they had encountered the strange man, called Aizen, that looked almost exactly like Add. His power was immense, quickly spreading fear among the group of fighters, but he had somehow been taken down by the Duo and Add quite quickly, and they still didn't understand how that happened.

Add had spoken to Lu and Ciel from far away before taking off on his Nasod Dynamos, escaping through the sky so that no one would be able to chase after him. Chung didn't know why Add had left everyone on such a short note, without ever giving a reason why, but there were more important things to be thinking about.

Eve.

She was still unconscious. She had taken a dangerous hit from Aizen and fell during their fight, and she has yet to open her eyes again. That was what was worrying everyone the most, with Elsword seeming to be the most anxious and distant out of all of them. The Elgang had retired to one of the camps of Hamel's army, and had each been given their own tent, though they were rather small. Raven and Rena hadn't come out of their tent yet, probably still having a lot on their mind. Aisha and Ara seemed shaken, and even though they did leave their tents at times, it was obvious to see that they wished to be left alone.

Lu and Ciel retired to their tents as well, but they didn't look like they were all that worried, and they acted almost the exact same way that they usually did. Perhaps they didn't want to think about it, or they just didn't care. It didn't matter to Chung, what _he _was worried about right now was the safety of Hamel. The Kingdom still hadn't launched any kind of counter attack to the demons attempting to get inside of Hamel, and with time just ticking away, Chung could feel the pressure. The pressure of a Prince. His people needs to attack now while they still have the chance, but they cannot succeed without the help of the Elgang. It's up to them to kill the Demon Commanders so that they can weaken the Demon Army, but all they were going right now was sitting around, moping.

Chung wasn't heartless, and it definitely wasn't about not caring. He cared about Eve waking up again just as much as anyone else, but he also didn't want to watch his Kingdom crumble down at his feet. He could feel the stares of Hamel soldiers every time he left his tent, they were all looking at him, still seeing him as Hamel's Guardian, and their last hope.

Elesis seemed to be the only one that was actually busy and working on Hamel's defences. For the last three days, all she has done is stay in Penensio's tent, yelling out commands to fellow soldiers and discussing battle strategies with the General and other important people of the army. Chung had heard stories of how dedicated Elesis the Red-Haired Knight from Elsword, back in the days when all they worried about was taking down the bandits of Elder, but now he could see it with his own eyes. Was Elesis not bothered about Eve's condition and about Add leaving the group? Or was she trying her best not to be fazed about what happens to comrades?

Chung walks over to the large fire burning at the centre of the army camp, and he rests himself on a bark nearby, holding his hands carefully to the flames to warm himself up. All of these thoughts were giving him a migraine, he really needed to clear his head.

He stares at the burning fire, watching it flicker from side to side, and sighs. Something has to happen soon, otherwise the Elgang will be spending too much time sitting around and Hamel will be doomed.

"You don't look healthy, have you been eating well?" A calm, deep voice questions Chung from behind, Chung turns his head to see Ciel the assassin, with his hands on his hip.

The assassin brushes his white and blue hair out of his eyes and sits down on the same bark as Chung, looking at the fire for a few moments before turning his attention to the Guardian. Chung gulps down, not feeling used to talking to Ciel, but he eventually nods and responds.

"How can I not be eating well when you're the one that cooks every night?" Chung replies, trying to sound cheerful, but he fails and Ciel notices it. The assassin pulls out a throwing knife from his breast pocket and swings it around playfully in his right hand, looking at Chung with a concerned expression.

"But something is bothering you."

"I'm confused, that's all."

"About what?"

"About what's happened to Eve and Add. No one expected Add to just leave us without a word, and Elsword said himself that we won't be fighting in the battlefield until Eve opens her eyes."

"But you want to fight now so that Hamel can be safe?" Ciel asks with a raised eyebrow, but his tone is unclear and Chung is unsure whether or not the assassin approves of the idea or not.

"Yeah,"

"Listen," Ciel mutters quietly, clearing his throat before continuing, and when he does, he sounds uncertain himself. "No one in this team wants to see Hamel fall, but they also cannot abandon a teammate, right? There's no way that any of you guys can leave the other, because you're a family."

"…Are _you_ part of this family?" Chung questions, wondering if he's prying too much, but Ciel shrugs his shoulders, causing his earrings to sway around a bit.

"I'm Lu's bodyguard and servant, that is my only affiliation, though I suppose I would be like to be one of you."

"No one said you can't."

Ciel smiles now, though his inner thoughts are still unclear to Chung. The assassin nods his head slowly, looking back at the fire.

"I guess not. But, what I'm trying to say here is that you should decide what side you're on."

"I don't want to pick sides." Chung admits, not wanting to even think about going against the will of his friends, but Ciel frowns and shakes his head in disagreement.

"Then what will you do if Eve never opens her eyes again? Will you stay with your team and watch the demons break into this place?"

"No, of course not!" Chung roars, jumping off of his seat and standing up, staring down at the sitting assassin. Ciel shakes his head again and stands up too, being far taller than the Guardian.

"Calm down, I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to tell you that you should decide what your plan of action will be, so that you won't do something reckless if this becomes a worst case scenario." Ciel whispers as he sees a couple of nearby Hamel soldiers glance at them, wondering if the two were fighting.

Chung glares at the assassin, trying to see the intention of angering him in Ciel's eyes, but he doesn't find it. Ciel only wanted to give friendly advice, even if it was in a harsh way, causing Chung to feel slightly guilty that he had just shouted, though Ciel didn't seem to be upset by it. The tall assassin starts to walk away, giving the Guardian a supportive pat on the back. Chung watches Ciel slowly walk away, back to his own tent, but stops him by tugging his arm.

"W-Wait!" The Guardian yelps, stopping Ciel in his tracks. The assassin looks back at him and stares at him.

"Hm?"

"It's just…Add left us all without giving any reason or saying goodbye, but Ara said she saw Add talking to you and Lu just before he left…did you…happen to hear what he said…?"

Ciel was dreading the moment when he'd have to answer that question, and he had been hoping that no one would have asked him it, but it looked like it was inevitable that he'd have to tell someone about it. No one needed to hear Add's final words before he abandoned the team, especially not at a time like this, so the assassin starts to hesitate. It's only the determined and serious glare in Chung's eyes that cause Ciel to speak.

"Yes, I heard what he said, but I don't think now is the right time."

"Please, Ciel, just tell me. I need to know."

Ciel heaves a heavy sigh, turns himself away from Chung so that he doesn't have to look the Guardian in the eyes, and quotes the strange, unexpected words that Add had exclaimed with a smile on his face.

"He said 'Anyone can be God' and flew away on his Dynamos straight afterwards."

"Anyone can be God…" Chung repeats in a quiet whisper, thinking about the reasoning behind Add saying those words. He hadn't shown anyone any indication about wanting to become a superior being to humans, he only showed interest in researching Nasods.

And then the thought crosses Chung's mind, Eve had been the closet one to Add out of all of them. If there was anyone that knew what went on in that crazed man's mind.

It was the Nasod Queen.

* * *

Everything circles around, as though the ground beneath was constantly moving, and hazel eyes begin scanning the surroundings of the bed carefully.

Eve had finally opened her eyes, but the first thing she had been doing was looking around herself, feeling confused and lost. Her beautiful, lit-up eyes move frantically around, taking in every piece of information about where she was, she had forgotten about even getting out of bed.

She was in a tent. Chilly weather outside, but the soft, plump blankets on her bed keeps her warm. She wraps herself in the sheets, leaving only her face visible out of the entire blanket. She had been curled up into a little ball on her bed for a long time now, just staring out at the things leaning against her bed.

A red sword, a silver, sharpened blade, a majestic bow, and a purple staff were all in her tent, left lying around on the floor. Her friends had been here while she had been unconscious, and the moment Eve had realized this, her chest had begun to feel warm again. The fuzzy, comforting sensation of knowing that people cared about her was almost addictive, though she had always been sure not to make it obvious that she could feel it. Moby and Remy rest in her arms, snuggling up against her in her bed. She strokes the two drones with her left hand while holding them close to herself with her right hand. They didn't have any warmth in them, but she still held them close to herself, squeezing them in her arms. They were her children and the last of her race.

Eve could recall the days when Nasods just like Moby and Remy would roam through the world of Elrios. Learning, growing, living. Just thinking about those days almost brings tears to her eyes, but she convinces herself that she is unable to do such humanly things.

Her white hair flows down her back as she lifts herself upwards and sits on her bed, and her holographic crown materializes on her head. She still feels dizzy and her entire body feels weak. She takes the blankets of the bed off of herself and stares at her attire, she was still wearing her elegant, exquisite white dress with pink edges. No one had dared to change her clothes. A small, innocent smile finds itself into Eve's face, and Eve doesn't fight it once she notices. She was the only one in this tent, it's excusable to do it here. She holds her head in her hands, feeling an incredible headache that causes her to temporarily close her eyes and focus, she had been hit much harder than she had originally presumed. She has no way of knowing how long she was out either, but she could easily assume that it had been a long time, and if she knew the Elgang well, they wouldn't have gone to fight a war without her.

Eve stops hesitantly as she places her feet onto the cold ground and lifts herself up. Something felt missing. Something felt wrong. She couldn't properly explain it, but there was an aching pain in her chest and she could feel water forming up around the edges of her eyes, she was crying. Why? That was the question she kept asking herself. She turns around to look at her hovering twin drones and they rush into her arms again, hating the sight of their Queen crying. Eve quickly starts to wipe away the tears that had almost rolled down her face and glances around. Add wasn't here.

He'd usually be here at a time like this. Either sitting there smiling at her, or making fun of her when she awoke, or perhaps waking her up himself with a cheeky one-liner. That was the Add she knew, and the person that would never fail at keeping her at ease. His creepy yet oddly familiar grin, his chuckling voice, his wavy white hair, not of it was here. Eve couldn't understand it herself, was she _missing_ his presence?

Eve stumbles out of bed, knowing that she still needs more time to rest and recover, but none of that matters to her. She places one hand on the side of her head, feeling the excruciating pain emitting from it, and balances herself with the other hand. Moby and Remy rush to her side and hold her up from under her arms as her legs are too weak to properly support her weight. She falls a few times, falling painfully onto the rough, solid floor, but she immediately commands Moby and Remy to pick her up and starts moving again. She doesn't understand why she cannot stop herself from moving forward, but she needs to. She gradually makes her way, with the assistance of her drones, to the exit of the tent and the bright light outside of it.

And at that moment, the moment just before she's about to leave her tent while she's still weak, she realizes what this strange force is that's making her want to find Add.

She frowns, hating the absurd concept of it, but there simply isn't any other way of explaining it. She steps outside of the tent, the rays of the sun almost blinding her, and she pictures Add once more. That boy that only showed himself crying to her, the boy that saved her life, the boy that lost it when she had been hurt by Aizen. That image is enough to convince herself. She opens her mouth slowly, Add's face still pictured in her mind, and she whispers the words she once said, long ago.

"**A Queen…must never be…without her King." **

And then she exits the tent, falling over agonizingly once more, before picking herself up to search for Add.


	69. No 59: Back to The Nightmare

**Hello all, I've got quite a bit of news for you!**

**Firstly, my exam week has been cancelled thanks to an important conference happening at our area, so I've gotten enough time to write this chapter!**

**Secondly, every ongoing story that I have so far will have a percentage of its completion in its story description. I'm not sure if this will particularly help anyone, but I'll be putting them there just in case!**

**Last and certainly not least, it has been brought to my attention that a storywriting competition is being held for both long term and short stories, and I might be entering it. It's not absolutely certain, but I'll definitely enter if I can. I'll send an Author's Update about it if it happens, so fingers crossed!**

**Special thanks to Babylon1914 and AnimeMangaLover35 for following and/or favouriting~! I seriously don't deserve someone as awesome as you, and if I could, I'd give you a big, thankful hug. Thank you~!**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C: **

* * *

Elsword felt queasy and contemplated about the possibility of walking away to never have to deal with it, but he knew that he'd just be delusional doing that. This talk was going to come up at one point or another, so he might as well get it out of the way now.

He steps out of his tent, surprised to see that most of the soldiers around Hamel's camp were all asleep in their own designated tents. The place seemed incredibly quiet, and the sun had just started to set beyond the horizon, but it came to a shock for Elsword that no one was still walking around, though he eventually shrugs his shoulders and starts moving again. There was still light in the camp thanks to the lanterns scattered around, but everything was lightly-dimmed and Elsword couldn't properly see his way around, if it wasn't for his heightened senses he most likely would have tripped over a couple things by now. He steps over and around all of the different pieces of equipment on the ground, making as little noise as possible to make sure that he didn't wake anyone up, these soldiers deserved some rest more than anything.

The Knight's Great Sword was still strapped to his back, however, so his weight did hold him down a bit. He had ditched the heavy armour he had once been wearing for a much more casual and light set of clothing, but his sword still feels like it weighed a ton. Elsword glances at his surroundings, trying to memorize this maze of a camp, and sees the largest and most decorated tent just nearby, Penensio's tent. That's where he had to meet for the talk that he had been dreading all this time, and when he sees the tent his composure almost falters, but he retains it carefully. He couldn't back away now, this matter had to be addressed.

He enters the tent slowly, pulling away the flaps of the entrance that was still in front of his face, and notices the brown-haired General already waiting for him while drinking a small cup of tea. Elsword nods at the Penensio in an odd manner and gradually walks over to him.

"You're here early," Elsword remarks, looking around for a chair to use for himself. The General chuckles as he takes another sip of his steaming tea and smiles at the Knight.

"Well, this _is_ my tent. I thought that I'd be busy this whole day, but your sister has caused wonders and made miracles ever since she came. The Red Knights truly are a force to be reckoned with."

"Yeah, I hope one day I'll be on her level."

"I don't have a sliver of a doubt that you will, Elsword. You might not have your sibling's talent in strategy, but I hear that you're unstoppable on the battlefield."

Elsword starts to blush, wondering if people around Elrios were actually saying such flattering things about him, but on the outside he shakes the compliment off casually and goes for a modest approach.

"I wouldn't call my unstoppable, but my team is definitely somewhere close to that title."

"I don't doubt that either," Penensio laughs back, putting his cup back into its saucer to place it onto the table next to him. His calm and pleased expression starts to transition into a frown and he stares at Elsword with firm eyes. "Now, to the matter at hand."

"Y-Yeah…" Elsword whispers back, finally finding a chair for himself and sits on it, his heart beating strongly in his chest.

"You should have told me about your condition earlier, I'm a Rune user as well you know. I could have helped you long ago."

"You use Runes too?"

"Yes, it's a secondary weapon along with my sword, and I've been using the magic that resides in Runes for many years now. However, I have unfortunately never seen that tattoo before nor ever heard of it. Chung explained to me that it's a timer that will kill you once it reaches zero, but I cannot lie to you and say I know a solution for it."

"Ah," Elsword mumbles, not feeling anymore fear within himself, since he given up ever trying to find something to save him. In his eyes, his doom was inevitable, so he straightens himself in his seat and lowers his head.

"But," Penensio continues, much to Elsword's confusion, and points to someone standing in the shadows of the tent. "I know someone that might."

The figure steps carefully out of the shadows and reveals herself. A purple-haired, beautiful and petite girl with a staff in her left hand, and her clothes that showed far too much of herself. She immediately turns her gaze to Elsword and smiles supportively, and greets him kindly instead of her more mean self.

"My spell books don't have anything written about the tattoo, but I still think I know a way around it." Aisha states, snapping her fingers to make a wooden chair out of thin air and rests on it, her large eyes directed at the shaken Knight.

Elsword almost jumps out of his seat and, for a moment, believes that he was just seeing things, but he eventually understands that this is real. This is all real.

He gradually collects himself together again, trying his best not to show Aisha his shock about her presence, but he makes absolutely no afford to mask his rage. He points at the Mage and begins barking.

"She's not supposed to be here! You…weren't supposed to know about-!"

"I wasn't supposed to know that you saved my life in return for your own?! I'm pretty sure I have the right to know about that, Elsword, you idiot!" Aisha interrupts angrily, clenching her magical staff in both of her hands, a flustered expression on her face. Elsword knew she was right, she had every right to have some knowledge on how her life was saved, so he stays silent and turns his look away. He folds his arms and sighs.

"I just didn't want to burden anyone," Elsword whispers quietly, but Aisha hears his words with problem and calms herself as well.

"This isn't about burdening us," Aisha speaks with a tired yet wary tone, looking back at Penensio to nod at him. "This is about saving you, that's what we do as a team."

"We know that you don't want to tell the team, Chung told us everything, and we understand your reasons behind it, but we still need to find a way to get that tattoo off of you." Penensio explains as he grabs his cup of tea and takes one last gulp to finish it. He turns Elsword's attention to the map of the entire area of Hamel on his table by pointing at it, and he speaks with a grim tone. "Do you know what this is?"

"The map of Hamel?" Elsword asks back as he looks at the brown map, being reminded of just how large the Kingdom was, and Penensio frowns.

"Yes, and every day our men are fighting out there to protect the innocent, but the demons are too powerful. We had no hope until you and your team came along. You're one of the most strongest Knights across the land, we need you now more than ever."

"And we're friends, Elsword." Aisha says as well as she looks deep into his red eyes, her serious expression directed at him. "I'll do anything I can to help."

Elsword stays silent again, not wanting to even be here in this tent, but also knowing that these two were going to do whatever they could to prevent his death calmed him down. He still had no hope of his own, he still believed that his end was nigh, but he knew he should at least give them a chance to try anything they know that might work. He unfolds his arms and waves his red hair from side-to-side, and decides that being depressed and closing himself from everything isn't going to help, so he looks at Penensio and Aisha again with a big smile on his face.

"Thanks, you guys, but do either of you have any plans to get this curse off of my arm?"

"I do, but it's not really a detailed plan." Aisha quickly responds, feeling relieved that Elsword was going to hear them out, and seeing that bright smile of his once again had gotten her pumped up.

"I never cared about details anyway, so what is it?"

"Well, while nothing is said in my books that I've been collecting, it's primary Mage knowledge to know about curses. The thing about curses are that even if they're supposedly impossible to remove, they can be…overwhelmed."

"Overwhelmed by what?"

"Simple, by energy."

"Magical energy?"

"No, it doesn't have to be a specific kind of energy, but I heard that dark magic works the best."

"Okay, then just hit me with some of your dark magic, that should work, right?" Elsword states, thinking that he had come up with a perfect solution, but Aisha shakes her head and sighs.

"My power isn't nearly enough. When I say that your tattoo can only be removed by energy, I'm talking an _immense _amount of it. Nothing ordinary will even come close to overwhelming your curse."

"Then, what else is there?"

"…the Dark El."

The moment Penensio hears that, he leaps out of his seat and stares at Aisha in horror, and Elsword widens his eyes and leans back in shock. Neither of them were expecting her to say such a thing, and Penensio almost immediately loses his temper.

"You mustn't be serious! That's utterly absurd!"

Aisha herself looks embarrassed and ashamed, but she knew that she wouldn't exactly be getting a good reaction out of them from the very beginning. She had prepared herself for this, so she speaks with confidence, with Elsword being quiet as she spoke.

"It's not absurd! We already know that the only demon that can possess the Dark El is the leader of the Demon Army, and we'll be fighting his commanders soon. If we kill them all, he'll have to show himself to take down Hamel, and that will be the perfect time for Elsword to take the Dark El away from him."

"But that thing has driven so many men mad before, or has eaten away at their souls! Listen, I know you have faith in Elsword, but he simply cannot-!"

"It's worth a shot." Elsword interrupts them before, his familiar smile still very present on his face, and gets out of his chair to stretch his legs.

"Elsword, you can't." Penensio persists the red-haired Knight, drops of sweat rolling slowly down the side of his face, and he places one of his hands onto Elsword's shoulder. "It will consume you."

"I'll die anyway." Elsword shrugs back, looking back at Aisha to smile at her, and he starts to yawn.

"And just what makes you so sure that the Dark El won't destroy you from the inside?"

"I'm not sure at all, but Big Sis has told me many times that my will is stronger than anyone else she's ever seen, and she's never been wrong before."

"But I-!"

"Relax, Penensio. We'll be defeating the demons that are attacking Hamel, so you'll be profiting from this nonetheless. I'll give it a shot, and I'm sure that my friends will kill me if the Dark El decides to take over me."

"I won't kill you, Elsword. I can't." Aisha admits as she lowers her head in disgrace, rubbing her left arm softly. Elsword simply chuckles at her confession and smiles at her again.

"I know, but Raven will. He'll probably hesitate, but I made a promise to him to stop him if he ever lost control of himself, so I'm sure that he'll do the same for me."

Penensio takes in a deep breath and eventually calms himself again, regaining his firm expression. He sits back down in his seat and nods at both Elsword and Aisha.

"Very well, do as you please, but I have warned you."

Elsword nods back and takes hold of Aisha's left hand, walking alongside her out of the tent. As they exit, Aisha notices her hand lying in his and begins to blush, thankfully out of Elsword's sight as he keeps looking in front of him. She tries to bring her face back to a normal tint, but she fails as her face only gets redder. But as she looks down at their locked hands, she realizes something that causes her heart to pound. He seemed so strong, so fearless.

And his hand is big as it tightens around hers.

* * *

Ciel groans as he rolls across the ground, his head having a painful headache as small drops of blood slide on it. He gets himself up and picks up his Gunblades from the ground, grinning weakly at Lu.

"I think that's enough sparring for one day,"

"Are you kidding?" Lu giggles in a high-pitched voice, sounding like music to Ciel's ears, and she dashes towards him to strike him down with her claws. "We're only just starting!"

They were both in the middle of the sparring arena of Hamel's camp, it was deserted and there was no one around to watch them, so neither Ciel or Lu had to hold back their demonic powers. They clash together, with Ciel quickly sidestepping out of her heavy attacks, but being caught by her faster ones. Ciel was mostly on the defensive with Lu constantly trying to find an opening, but her servant's swift movements were hard to follow, and she soon found herself gasping for air. She stops her barrage of failed attacks and starts to catch her breath.

"Tired now?" Ciel questions his master, not seeming like he felt even slightly winded, he moved like a blur during their fight but he never got tired himself. Lu huffs angrily and summons her demonic claws again.

"Not even a little bit! But I have to admit, you've gotten even faster since the last time we sparred, but you're still not attacking me!"

"I would never even think about attacking you, Lu. Besides, this is fine by itself, right? We're both exercising and improving our techniques."

"No, it's not fine. It makes this spar seem one-sided! I demand that you try to attack me!" Lu complains, waving her hands in the air like a spoiled child, which she technically was.

Ciel stares at her for a few moments, enjoying just how adorable and flawless she looks when she's angry, and her soft, plump cheeks go red whenever she becomes flustered. He has to momentarily turn himself the other way and wipe the blood that had dripped out of his nose, since the last time Lu saw him getting a nosebleed, it didn't exactly end that well for him. He gradually looks back at Lu again, with her upset expression, and bows politely for her.

"Whatever you wish, Lu."

"Good, now let's spar for real! Ruinous Impact!" She cackles as she thrusts her right claw forward and summons a much larger claw out of the ground to grab Ciel in its clutches.

Ciel backflips elegantly out of the way, as though he had already seen the attack coming, and starts to fire at Lu with his Gunblades from afar, but none of the magical bullets properly target her. Lu darts towards him and strikes him with both of her claws, which Ciel quickly reacts to by blocking them with his weapons, but he is thrown backwards by the sheer force of the attack. He immediately gets to his feet, however, and materializes a blue blaster into the grip of his left hand.

"Death Sentence of Marbas." Ciel whispers with an unsure look on his face as his blue blaster releases multiple bullets filled with demonic energy at Lu, carefully targeting at her.

Lu rolls to the left, dodging the first barrage of bullets, but has to hold her massive claws out in front of her to prevent the second barrage from hitting her. She then slashes down with her claws again at Ciel, almost getting him, but he dodges them by leaning to the right at the last second. Lu had a ridiculous amount of power behind her attacks, but she was too slow for him, and he could clearly see all of her moves in slow motion. However, he can only dodge for so long, and Lu takes advantage of that by immediately following up her previous slash with another one, grazing his left shoulder. He tumbles agonizingly onto the ground again, but this time he decides to sheathe his Gunblades as he gets back up.

He smiles calmly at his master, admiring her power and agility. He still had a ways to go before he could properly keep up with her tactical prowess on the battlefield. Lu sees Ciel put his weapons away and pouts again, not wanting their sparring session to end just yet.

"Oh, come on! Is it over already?" She asks her servant, dematerializing her blue claws and frowning at him.

"Afraid so, it's evening now and most of the soldiers are asleep, we cannot stay here."

"But I don't want to sleep yet…"

"You don't have to, but we should at least return to our tent and make sure that we do not make any noise."

Ciel then walks out of the sand pit that was called the sparring arena. It wasn't an actual arena and it was rather small, and using sand as the ground felt quite irritating to him as it slowed his movements during his sparring sessions. There were stands everywhere, filled with different kinds of weapons to practice fighting with. There were wooden swords, spears, bow and arrows, maces, clubs, axes, and Ciel was sure that he even saw a trident at one point. Ciel always respected Velder's Knights out of any other type of fighters in the world of Elrios, but he also highly-respected the Hamel soldiers ability to adapt to almost any weapon during a battle. Ciel himself only specialized in his Gunblades, he still needed to work on his dagger throwing and his aiming with his blue blaster. Lu didn't really need to adapt to other weapons, however, as her claws seemed to cover everything a fighter needs, a method of attacking and defending. Not to mention the fact that her claws won't break like ordinary weapons tend to.

Lu and Ciel walk up the steps at the end of the arena and see the camp's tents in the distance, and with Ciel's advanced vision he could see that a few of the lights were still on, so some of the soldiers still hadn't fallen asleep yet. He didn't really have the energy to walk all the way back to the camp after sparring for so long, but Lu was quickly skipping alongside him with a huge, cheeky grin on her face.

"Stop looking so tired, you look like an old man." She snickers in a cheeky fashion, causing Ciel to have a frustrated eye twitch that Lu didn't notice. Being called old by someone that was actually a couple hundred years older him wasn't settling too well.

"I'm not tired, just in thought."

"About what?"

"About a lot of things, not just one subject."

"Is one of the subjects about talking to Chung?" Lu asks him as she ends her skipping and walks normally beside him to follow him back to Hamel's camp. Ciel looks down to stare at his master, a sheepish smile on him.

"You saw?"

"Yep, and I'll tell you, Chung looked really down. Poor guy must be worried about his Kingdom, too bad that Eve hasn't woken up yet."

"Indeed,"

"So, tell me, what did you say to him?"

"Just that he should make sure that he knows what his own feelings are, and figure out his priorities. I fear that at this rate, the team will fall apart between the ones that want to wait for Eve to awaken and the ones that want to fight for Hamel before the demons break through the walls."

"That's a smart piece of advice, but what side are you on? Do you want to wait some more or do you want to start fighting now?"

"Whatever you do, Lu. Your decision is also mine." Ciel states in a monotone voice, looking at her with a serious glare. Lu stays quiet for a few seconds before showing her adorable smile and patting the assassin on the back.

"My, how wonderfully loyal of you! But, I'll be honest, I want to stay a while longer to see how things turn out. Curiosity, mostly."

"Very well, then we shall do just that."

"Still, I'm seriously itching to fight the fake demons that are waiting outside this Kingdom's walls, and kill the guy that replaced me as Overlord in the Demon Realm." Lu mumbles to herself as she cracks the knuckles of her small, miniature hands. Ciel simply chuckles under her breath, he probably won't want to be there when she meets her superior, it'll be a torturous sight to see for sure.

"He will get what is coming to him, and I shall eliminate him for you if that is your command."

"No, I want you to kill whatever demons get in my way, but the Overlord is mine to slaughter."

"Of course,"

"And," Lu continues her command to Ciel, remembering her alliance to the Elgang, the group of indecisive fools. "I want you to stop anyone that tries to prevent me from killing him. Elsword or one of his friends will probably try to just subdue him to interrogate him, but I want him _dead._"

"Are you sure…? I don't think I'm a match for the entire team."

"It's fine, just hold them off longer enough for me to go for the kill."

Ciel hesitates, feeling as though he didn't want to accept that command, but he knew better than to say no to his master, so he eventually nods obediently.

"Understood."

As they both finally reach the camp filled with different types of tents, Lu's firm expression relaxes itself and changes into calm and composed one. She smiles brightly at Ciel again and begins to yawn in a cute manner, causing Ciel to feel another nosebleed coming his way.

"Well, let's get to our tent and retire for the day! And remember, I want one of your signature biscuits before I go to bed!"

Ciel chuckles once more, knowing exactly what she would say to him at a time like this, and he opens his mouth to respond to her that she'll get all of the biscuits she could ever ask for, but the sight before him brings him to a halt. All of the soldiers of Hamel had burst out of their tents to gather around something at the very centre of the camp. There was a huge crowd of men and women so Ciel couldn't properly see what it was that they were looking at, but assuming that they all seemed anxious it was probably something important. He looks down at Lu and points to the crowd.

"They've found something,"

"What is it? Let's go see!" Lu laughs, seeming excited, as though they had found something magical. She grabs Ciel by his large, right hand and drags him along with her to the soldiers.

They reach the crowd and forcefully push and brush past all of the men and women cuddled together, it's a tight squeeze but both Lu and Ciel finally get close enough to see what everyone was looking at, and it wasn't something that either of them had been expecting.

A half-conscious Nasod Queen kneeling on the ground, her white hair in a complete mess and her only support for walking being Moby and Remy. Eve blinks a few times at the soldiers around her and says nothing, she was obviously out of it and Ciel quickly rushes to her side and lifts her off the ground. She's light, so he holds her in his arms like a baby and looks into her hazel eyes, but she wasn't looking at him. Her stare was distant, as though she was looking into a different world entirely, and Lu waves her hand in front of Eve's face.

"Is she dead…?" Lu asks after a long moment of silence, and Ciel shoots her a look to let her know that she was being a little too blunt.

"Eve? Can you hear me? Are you alright?" Ciel whispers to Eve, trying to make her snap back into it, but her head rolls backwards and she falls unconscious in his arms, with Moby and Remy hovering anxiously around her. Lu shakes her head and starts biting one of her fingernails and stares at her servant, both worried about the situation.

"How'd she even get out of her tent? And what for?"

"I don't know," Ciel mutters as he looks back at the Nasod Queen in his arms, she had bruises all over her so Ciel presumes that she must have fallen many times before she walked this far into the camp. He lowers his head and heaves a heavy sigh, carefully carrying Eve back to her designated tent.

"But this means that the fight starts now."

* * *

Waiting.

Waiting, waiting, and more waiting.

It was taking far too long, and Add had almost begun to pull his own hair out in frustration as he stares at the blue hologram of his Nasod Dynamos. It was currently processing the codes inside of the necklace that Add had taken from Aizen, and it was still only at forty percent.

He had no idea where he was, he had been flying aimlessly on his Dynamos for hours and had finally landed in a cave of a mountain. The air was thin all the way up to where he was, but he didn't feel any difficulty trying to breathe, it just bothered him. The ground beneath him is rocky and bumpy, being incredibly painful to sit on, but Add didn't really notice that either. The cave is damp, and his white jacket was now torn and wet because of his surroundings, so it looked like he was in rags rather than an attire that looked elegant.

Add glares at the blue screen again, forty two percent. This waiting was agonizing, for he knew that even when the Nasod Dynamos finally finish processing the codes, there's still a good chance that the codes will be useless and not give him the power he desires. All he can do is sit there in the darkness of the cave and pray that things will go the way he wants it too. His white hair flops many times in front of his emotionless face because it had also become wet, and Add couldn't take the irritation anymore. He grabs a nearby rock and observes it carefully, the edge is sharp and not dull in the slightest, it should do the job fine.

Add holds the rock close to his head with his right hand and unties his hair with his left one, ruining the ponytail that Eve had put it in so long ago, and starts cutting. His hair cuts easily, falling in front of his feet every time he slices off a large strand of it. He didn't have a proper mirror, but a small puddle of water on the ground next to him served as an alright replacement. When he finally finishes, he drops the sharp rock and stares at his reflection through the water, his eyes looked tired and his short hair looked like a mess, but at least it wouldn't annoy him any longer. He also takes off his ruined jacket and chucks it away, leaving him with just a simple black shirt on himself. It was a while since Add had short hair, and he could finally feel his head breathe again, though he immediately began to miss his ponytail, it was fun to have.

Fifty eight percent on the hologram of the Nasod Dynamos. Add leans against the one of the sides of the cave, sighing as he wonders what all of his friends would think of him for leaving them. Would they resent him? Or would they understand his situation? He couldn't really say that he'd miss any of them, but the empty feeling in his heart told him otherwise. Surely this empty feeling would be washed away the moment he would see his mother again, along with all of his childhood friends. He didn't know much about his father, however, as he was almost always at work. He couldn't remember his father at all, in fact, not even as much as his face. He could remember his mother's face just fine though, and how her bright smile would support him in even the roughest moments of his life.

Just thinking about his mother again, Add had completely forgotten the Elgang once more, and all that was on his mind was the fact that he might be seeing them after so long, if the Nasod Dynamos can properly decipher the codes on Aizen's necklace.

The purple necklace that glimmered majestically in the light reminded Add that his mother had given him one too, but he lost it long ago back when he was pursuing Eve for her mysterious codes, and he didn't understand why he'd forget about something so important, but he somehow did. At least he got it back again, even if he had to kill another version of himself to do it.

Light suddenly flashes behind Add and the sounds of a mirror cracking echoed throughout the cave, but Add didn't show any signs of shock or interest in it. He recognized the light and the sounds immediately, it would happen whenever his 'special friend' would give him a visit. Glave stands in the shadows of the cave, staring at Add with his one visible eye with two cubes in his left hand. Add chuckles ominously, tilting his head sideways to look at Glave playfully, and waves casually at him.

"Ah, Glave, you sure took some time to pay me another visit."

"…"

"So," Add continues, not bothering to wait for a response from his masked friend, he points at the necklace that he had taken from Aizen and grins. "Are you going to send another future me to take me down?"

"I never did anything of the sort, Aizen came in contact with you by his own will."

"Well, I killed him in cold blood, so I'm guessing that I won't be ending up like him."

"…Indeed, you have changed the future, which is a feat not accomplished by many." Glave retorts, not actually praising Add for his work, but more like a withering insult.

"Heh, but this also makes you useless to me. If this necklace gives me the same powers I saw in my future self, I won't need your help to travel through time."

"That is why I came, to tell you that you shouldn't follow your current path."

"Oh please, will we have to fight again? I'm not really in the mood."

"I'm being serious here, Add. And I also came to confess something to you."

"And what would that be?"

Glave hesitates, playing around frantically with the cubes in his palm. He didn't want to tell Add about what had been happening so far, but he knew that this time he didn't have much of a choice.

"Do you know why Luto and I pitted you against Raven so long ago? Did you know why we tried to make you kill each other?"

"For your own entertain, I'm guessing."

"No, because Luto has been looking for people like you and Raven for a long time. You see, for many years now, the two most powerful races in this world have been the humans and the Nasods. Luto, my master, has been trying to make an even powerful being from this fact."

"Really? Sounds impossible to me."

"Not so, however, as there is a simple way to make the perfect from these two races, a human that also possesses the powers of a Nasod."

Add stays silent as his eyes widen, and he actually starts looking at Glave in the eyes now, not understanding where this was going. But it made some logical sense to him, a human that was also a Nasod _would _ be more powerful than both races, but having someone out there that's trying to make a person like that was hard to fathom. Glave's strong and firm composure doesn't fail itself, however, and the masked man continues speaking.

"That is why _I _was the one that gave Raven his Nasod Arm. He was our first attempt at making a human with the powers of a Nasod. He showed great promise too, slaughtering the people of Velder with incredible strength…but he failed in one important aspect." Glave mutters, lowering his head as he remembers those tedious days, Add pictures Raven's scarred face clearly and questions further.

"What was it?"

"Control, Add. He didn't have control over himself, he had practically become a slave to the Nasod Arm. I told Master Luto that Raven was a failed experiment due to this, but he didn't believe me, so we decided to make a second attempt at a Nasod-human hybrid…and I think you know who that second attempt is…"

Add's smile quickly fades from his face and he clenches his right hand into a fist, knowing exactly who he was talking about.

"Me," He grumbles, understanding the situation now. "I was your second attempt."

"Bingo. _I _was the one that saved you by throwing into that library. All of those books on Nasod technology? I put them there. Food and water to keep you alive all of those years trapped there? I prepared that for you too Spare parts of Nasods just lying around? I left them there for you to use them as materials to make the Nasod Dynamos. I locked you into that library with the all of the knowledge anyone would need about the Nasods to see if you could become what we were looking for."

"Like a gerbil in a cage, you left me in there with whatever I needed to be what you wanted?" Add asks in a hiss to Glave, recalling all of those torturous years stuck in that endless library of books, now knowing that he had been put there for a reason.

"Yes, and you became a complete success. However, when you confronting and fought Raven on that airship, you still somehow lost. But, I used my powers to hide your presence when Raven threw you overboard. Right now, Luto has no idea that you are alive, but I keep you that way because I still see potential in you."

"…Why…? What was it all for…? What was the point of making a human that's also a Nasod…? Why the hell did you do all of that…?" Add whispers as tears roll down his face, and Glave once again hesitates to answer. If he were to answer this question, Add would know everything, but that was fine, Add needed to know.

"Because-!" Glave starts to explain, but gets interrupted as Add gets off the ground and stands up again.

Add grins sadistically at the Dynamos' hologram, the processing of Aizen's necklace had finally ended during their talk.

And the process was a success.

Add snatches the necklace from the Nasod Dynamos and places it around his skinny neck, cackling the whole way through. He watches it glow as the necklace rests on his chest, and the Nasod Dynamos start to transform automatically, emitting electrical energy around Add, sparking dangerously close to him like a shield. Glave takes a few steps back, feeling the sheer intensity of the energy. The purple electricity bombs through the cave, destroying rocks around it but leaving Add completely unscathed.

Add's clothes begin to change, his black shirt now being covered by a white jacket that's very similar to the one he wore when he first started his journey, and his Dynamos materialize into a more ominous shape. Add holds his right hand out in front of him, summoning a blue mirror-like portal behind him. This power was incredible, unbelievable in its entirety, and Add could quickly feel himself becoming addicted to its amount. **[Time Tracer Attire]**

"You know what? I don't care. I don't care what you did to me or what your intentions were, none of that matters now." Add laughs in a grim tone, causing Glave to actually shiver in fright, which is something he hadn't come close to doing in centuries.

"Add…?"

"I'm putting the past behind me," Add laughs again, taking his first step through the portal, only leaving half of his body visible now. He places his hand onto the left side of his face and covers his left eye. "Since I'm going to be traveling way further back."

Glave now jumps forward, reaching out desperately for the Tracer, but Add takes his final step through the giant mirror and disappears inside.

"_Add, no!"_

"**And I'll be taking back everything, kahahaha!"**


	70. Author's Notification 3

**Hey guys just a quick, brief note:**

**I'm moving house (again) so I'm going to need some time to move the furniture and all of the other things into the new place, so that's going to take a lot out of me.**

**I'm going to need some time to get that all sorted, plus get the internet set up in the new house, so the next chapter will probably not be coming out this week, I apologize for that.**

**I'll still try my very best to get the next chapter out as fast as possible, I promise. Sorry about this, I hope you can forgive me! :c**

**Zacaro.**


	71. No 60: Broken Hearts

**Hello all, here's chapter 60. It really took me a while to get this up, apologizes for that!**

**Special thanks to yeelimso, SendoErika, Doubled-Helix, mauraven667rider and Danzee for following/favouriting/reviewing this story! Thank you so much for your support, you're super duper awesome! Welcome to the family, I hope I don't disappoint! C:**

**Upcoming plans and ideas shall be present on my blog, so if you want to have a little peak of the things to come, please check it out! It would mean the world to me! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

It hadn't been easy trying to calm Eve down, but the Elgang together were somehow able to manage it.

She had clearly been shaken when she got out of bed and it was Ciel who had to carry her straight back to her tent, then informing everyone about it. It was in the middle of the night, everyone tired and feeble, but they rushed right to Eve's tent once they had received the news. Ciel and Lu were the only ones to decide not to enter the tent since they wanted some sleep, but all the others were circled around Eve's bed, looking both stressful and relieved.

Eve looks at all of them and their strange expressions, she had just been told about what happened after she fell unconscious in their battle against Aizen, but she was still having trouble fathoming that Add had just left afterwards, not even bothering to explain why, but she could tell that the team possessed no answers for her.

"We need to find him," Eve mutters after a long period of silence, she does not speak Add's name, but her friends immediately realized who she's talking about, and Elsword is the first to respond.

"We'll search for him soon." The Knight speaks back reassuringly to Eve, being the one who knows how much he means to her. "But right now, we've got something more important to worry about."

"What could be more important than one of our teammates' safety?" Eve questions back, almost seething with hatred as self-evident from the tone of her voice. Elsword winces for a moment, noticing that he should have chosen a better way of phrasing what he had just said, he opens his mouth to do so, but Chung beats him to it.

"What Elsword is trying to say…" Chung sighs restlessly. "…is that the safety of Hamel is far more immediate. We all know how Add is, he's strong and can take care of himself. Of course, we _will_ go after him, but we should focus on defeating the demons in Hamel first."

Eve lowers her head, taking everything in as calmly as she possibly can, holding the white bandage wrapped around her forehead. She leans back in her pillow, closing her eyes for a moment. She knows very well how strong Add is and that nothing can really be a threat to him, but that's not what she's worried about, she worries about Add's mental health. Obviously, he saw something in his future self that triggered something dark within himself, and being as unstable that he is, Eve's anxious of what he would do without them. She recalls that special moment on the hilltop, when they both spoke there alone, and Add revealed the pain that he was hiding behind that large grin of his. He had a façade, a good one at that, but Eve could see through it. She understands that Hamel is in desperate need of saving, but she simply cannot take her mind off of Add and how he had just left them. The second that Hamel can be considered safe from harm, Eve would start her search, even if it means going alone.

The entrance to the tent opens up and a boy with shaggy, black hair and a leather jacket steps inside. Draco.

"Yo," He says to everyone, as though nothing is wrong. His jacket looks quite different, being much lengthier near his legs, looking almost like a coat, and the purple tattoo on his right arm seems larger. The tattoo glows ominously, its light glimmering on his skin as though it's alive. The scythe strapped to his back is engulfed in two kinds of flames, red and blue. His expression is firm, confident, and almost unrecognizable to the team. **[Ancient Golem]**

Elesis' eyes widen and she finds herself unable to look away from her partner. She had never seen him look that way before, but he seems even more powerful than ever now, and she smiles once their eyes meet. Draco understands from the stares he's receiving just what the question on their minds are, so he shrugs his shoulders and answers their question before they ask it.

"I've been training alongside Hamel's soldiers for the past few days, that's why you haven't been seeing much of me. I've whipped those soldiers into shape, but it seems I have also improved as well."

"Your tattoo…" Elesis whispers, watching the unearthly way it glows on his flesh, the tattoo had been small at first so she didn't really mind about it, but now it had almost doubled in size.

"Yeah, it changed me again. I don't know why or how, but it has."

"We really need to find out what that tattoo is."

Elsword hears his sister's words and remembers his own, mysterious tattoo. He readjusts his sleeves, making sure to cover his upper arm enough so that his tattoo isn't visible. Only Aisha, Chung, and Penensio know about it now, but perhaps he can ask Draco about it too?

No, as the Knight stares longer at Draco's tattoo, he realizes just how different they are. Draco's tattoo seems to be written in some kind of ancient language, while glowing in a dimly-lit light, but Elsword's differs significantly. Besides, he doesn't want to get anyone else involved with his problems, if the Dark El can save him, then that's where he will start.

"Anyway, I've heard from talk around the camp that the soldiers are raring to go and want to fight the demons now that their Prince has returned." Draco goes on, a small smile visible on his face as he informs the team, trying his best to hide the fact that he wants to start battling soon as well. He glances at Chung, giving him a quick nod. "You've done wonders to their morale, Chung."

"Yes, I've discussed our plan for the counterattack against the demons." Elesis continues, radiating an aura that commands the upmost respect. Everyone looks at her and pays attention, even the injured Eve. "It seems like the Demon Army attacks once a week, each time their attack becoming stronger and stronger. According to Penensio, the next attack should be in four days, that is our time to strike."

"Have you decided how our positions will be?" Raven questions the Grand Master with his arms crossed, his spiked hair swaying from side-to-side from the strong winds. Being a Velder Knight, he knows that it will be suicide to go into a battle without a plan, even though his Nasod Arm is telling him to simply rush forward and cut down anything in his path. Nevertheless, he resists the temptation and thinks logically.

"Of course. After a long talk with Penensio, we've agreed on all of your positions. Chung, as the Prince, you will be at the front lines to motivate your people. Raven and Rena, you'll be with Chung at the front and will back him up, and will follow his commands. Aisha and Eve, you'll be staying around the middle of the battlefield, making sure that the demons don't get to Hamel's gates. Ara, you will stay at the back, inside Hamel's walls, to heal any wounded soldiers with Eun's healing ability. Draco, you'll be in full command of the soldiers and will adapt and change the battle plan if things go bad."

"Alright," Draco responds quietly, enjoying the thought of telling thousands of humans what to do and how to do it, but he tilts his head to the side and asks further. "But isn't that supposed to be your job? You're pretty good at commanding."

"No, I cannot be the commander, since Elsword and I will be the surprise attack." Elesis answers with fire burning ambitiously in her eyes, and it causes Elsword to turn around and blink at his older sister, having no idea what she's saying. Rena and Aisha also gain confused looks on their face, and Ara raises her hand to speak.

"Um, surprise attack? We didn't hear anything about that." Ara says in a polite manner, and Elesis nods slowly, a smug grin for an expression.

"Yes, it's something Penensio and I decided just yesterday. There will be a litte…trickery involved in the upcoming battle."

"I do not follow," Raven grumbles, wondering where this is all going, but Elesis waves her left hand to reassure him.

"As you all know, it's very likely that the all of the Demon Commanders will be showing themselves this time to take Hamel down. It's not that I do not trust your abilities, but I've planned a surprise attack in case things do not occur how we want it to. If any of you are to encounter a Commander, I want you to lure it to the front gates of Hamel."

Aisha grabs her staff, which was resting beside Eve's wooden bed, and clenches it in her arms, looking both clueless and irritated. She shakes her head in disapproval and speaks up.

"That's crazy! I thought we were supposed to keep them _away _from Hamel, but now you want us to bring them straight to the gates?!"

"Listen," Elesis snaps back, trying to both calm Aisha down and demand the respect she deserves. She looks at everyone, and sees just how lost they all seem. It looks like she has to spell it out for them. "I want you to make us look weak. Make it seem like we're struggling. Don't let them get to the front gates _immediately_, they might suspect we're holding back, but eventually allow them to get close enough to Hamel so that they believe they're winning. That is when Elsword and I will strike."

"Oh, I see." Raven follows up in his gruff, deep voice. "You want us to dispose of the Demon Commanders as fast as possible, so that Hamel's soldiers can focus on killing the ordinary demons."

"But we'll be putting Hamel in harm's way, and we'll be compromising its safety. I know you and Elsword are strong, but if you fail it'll mean that the Demon Army will get into the centre of Hamel even faster than before!" Chung shouts up, thinking the plan to be utterly absurd. Is this truly his words? Or the words of someone blinded by their love for their kingdom? Chung doesn't know, and he starts to wonder about it himself, but he speaks put angrily anyway.

"I agree with Chung," Rena exclaims in her beautiful, melodic voice as she clasps her hands with Eve, still very worried about her condition. "The risk is too high, I believe that fighting them head-on is a better plan."

"Penensio and I conjured up this plan _together._" Elesis retorts, now frowning as she doesn't understand why the Elf and the Prince do not see things the same way she does. "And as you know, Penensio has been in many wars, and has always been successful. He might be willing to raise the stakes, but he only does that if he doesn't have a choice."

"_I say it's worth a shot. The new demons that have been showing up around the land are idiots, they're nothing like the old demons. If there's any creature that you can fool, it's them."_ Eun giggles happily, pitching in her opinion to the team from Ara's hairpin, but the Fox's statement only sets everyone more on the edge, none of them can truly trust her.

The team fall silent, with many of the teammates folding their arms and lowering their heads, falling into deep thought. They all know how desperate things seem now, but some of them still don't think that putting Hamel more at risk for the chance of hitting harder is worth it, and Chung is the one who is the least okay with the idea. He knows he shouldn't argue against people like Elesis and Penensio, people who have been in countless more battles than him, but his heart always insists that he doesn't allow something so hasty and dangerous happen. He feels conflicted. Draco glances at them all, hating the dark and unsettling atmosphere that's descending upon them. He has still failed to act the same way that they all do with their peculiar emotions, so he decides to throw away any doubt any of them have.

"Look, we're warriors. We've been in many fights and we'll be in plenty more, but don't get all cocky now. You've killed a lot of demons on your way to where you are now, but you should never underestimate the strength of numbers. There's an entire army of them out there and only a couple of us. We can beat up and defeat demons all day long if we're fighting alongside each other…but an army…? That's beyond us, that's beyond _all _of us." Draco says to them in a commanding, powerful, intimidating tone that none of them have ever heard before, even Elesis herself listens up and considers his words. He pauses for a moment, giving everyone a second to understand what he's saying, before continuing.

"If a chance shows itself, we take it. Right now, the 'surprise plan' that Elesis has proposed will make things a lot more dangerous, and might possibly increase the number of causalities, but sacrifices need to be made. If we don't take this chance, Hamel might crumble to our feet a _hell_ of a lot faster than you can imagine. Elesis knows herself the risk, but she's falling through it anyway because she knows we'll win this way." He chuckles wholeheartedly now, looking at Elesis with a fiery passion burning inside him. He has never felt something like this before, but he decides that he enjoys it and finds himself grinning. "It's our only shot."

Everyone, including Chung himself, has a small smile present on their face now, even if some of them are still uncertain. He speaks absolute sense, risks and sacrifices are to be made if victory is to be gained, and they know themselves that their strength has very clear limits. They cannot take the wrong course of action and simply rush into battle against an entire army to take on by themselves, that isn't bravery, that is just stupidity. It isn't ambitious, it's foolish and unrealistic.

Chung heaves a heavy sigh and tries to clear his mind of all of the different thoughts rushing through his consciousness. He still feels mixing emotions within him, and all of his instincts are telling him to rebel, but Draco's words had seeped down into his heart and made him remember his past. Back when his father had attack Hamel, his own kingdom, because he was controlled by the demons, Chung had immediately commanding all of the available troops to his side and had tried to take his father head-on. He knew very well that his power was nowhere near the Colossus', he knew that he'd just be sending soldiers to their deaths, but he simply didn't care. He wanted to stop his father right then and there, he somehow tricked himself into believing that he could defeat the Colossus back when he was so weak. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice, he has to learn from his mistakes if he wishes to stand a chance against his father when they meet again. Chung places his Destroyer on the ground, leaning against it, and nods slowly and understandingly.

"Very well, the surprise attack will be our trump card for the battle." The Prince mutters quietly, failing to fake a smile for his team. He wants to show his friends that he's back to his normal self, but he cannot do it. He's a nervous wreck, constantly worrying that his kingdom, his home, could be destroyed at any time. He decides that no more exchange of words is necessary and leaves the tent.

Rena sees the anxiety and pain in Chung's eyes and picks up her bow to follow after him, nudging Raven's arm to silently tell him to come as well, and Raven reluctantly does so. Elesis sighs, gives a pat on Draco's back for helping her get through to the Elgang, and departs as well, with Draco trailing behind her to get back to training the troops. Ara starts whispering to Eun and heads back to her own tent, shaking her head slowly.

Elsword and Aisha are the only ones left, looking at Eve as she shuffles around in her bed with bandages wrapping almost around her entire body. They feel both ashamed and lucky that they didn't fight against the future self of Add, seeing how badly Eve has injured after just sustaining one hit from the crazed man. Eve notices their stares and glances at the both of them, gradually getting out of bed and sliding the bandages off.

"Do not be concerned. I have scanned my system and outer statuses. I am fully healed and at a hundred percent once more." She states in a monotone voice, taking off the bandage on her forehead last without looking at the Mage and the Knight. It's a lie, all of it, but they do not know that.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Aisha questions, watching Eve stand on her feet once again, wearing an elegant, white dress with a glimmering crown on her head.

"Of course, I just need to have a short walk. We will speak later, I shall go around the camp and get my body moving properly again." She responds as she carefully steps over to the exit of the tent and advances outwards, almost falling over a few times. It's hard for the Knight not to rush after the Nasod Queen and ask her to rest a while longer, but he knows that Eve isn't in the mood to listen to others.

"Eve's been like that ever since we told her that Add left the team." Aisha whispers sadly, thinking the exact same thing he is. He looks down at her and realizes that they are now the only ones in the tent, and he cannot recall the last time he has been alone in a room with her, so he starts blushing.

"Yeah, perhaps we shouldn't have spoken about it the moment she woke up." Elsword mumbles, facing the other way from Aisha until the shade of the skin on his face returns to normal instead of a bright red colour. "It really came as a shock to her."

"We didn't have a choice." Aisha sighs back, not noticing Elsword act strangely. "Add's whereabouts was the first question she asked us when she came to, we had to tell her the truth."

"Our battle against an _army _is going to happen in four days, I really hope she'll be all better when we have to fight." Elsword grumbles, truly worried if they'll be able to save Hamel from the clutches of the foul creatures, the fate of the kingdom is in their hands. And he cannot even begin to imagine how Chung will react if he watches his kingdom fall, if he lives to see that, that is. The Demon Commanders weren't planning on keeping their enemies alive.

"Yes…" Aisha trails off, remembering about their upcoming battle and the plan that they had discussed in secret. She struggles for a while, thinking that it's foolish to speak of it again, she'll only make Elsword unsure, but the words blurt out of her mouth. "What if the leader of the Demon Army doesn't show up? Then we'll never get our hands on the Dark El! And that crystal is our only chance at getting rid of that tattoo!"

She notices that she's panting now, facing Elsword with tears in the corners of her eyes. She clenches her magical staff so tightly that she thinks for a second that it'll break. Wiping away the tears bother they roll down her cheek, she stares into Elsword's eyes and sees his reaction. Nothing.

There isn't any unsure expression on his face, his body isn't shivering from fear, he isn't crying like Aisha is, and he doesn't even look like he's the slightest bit upset. He instead smiles cheerfully, practically radiating with light as he places one hand on her left shoulder and chuckles, showing a serious side of himself that Aisha ever witnesses.

"If I die in four days, I'll die fighting alongside my friends, and that's the best way to go." He speaks casually, showing that there is no more fear present within him. He looks into her purple eyes and realizes his heartbeat. He opens his mouth to say something else, but feels himself getting lost in her deep eyes. Aisha lowers her head, seeing how close their faces are now, and wipes away the last tear on the edge of her right eye.

"You're…such a dork." She laughs and cries at the same time, finally looking back at him and his passionate red eyes, she wants to look away but fails to, she also finds herself unable to speak.

And the next thing that happens surprises them both.

On pure instinct, Elsword brings himself even closer to her and presses his lips against hers, feeling the soft, supple texture of her own lips. Aisha's eyes widen and she gasps when he takes his lips off of hers. She hadn't been expecting that, especially from someone as indecisive as him, and Elsword backs away as he interprets her gasp as a gasp of shock. His face is red again and he waves out his hands in front of himself apologetically.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know what came over me-!" He begins to stutter out, expecting the Mage to smack him over the head with her staff, but Aisha doesn't do that at all.

She instead wraps her hands around the back of Elsword's head and pulls him back closer to her face, and initiates the second kiss by herself. She doesn't know what she's doing herself, but she decides to go with it. Her heart only starts to beat faster and faster, practically pounding out of her chest, but she holds the kiss for as long as possible, feeling Elsword's spiky hair with her fingers. He seems so tall and invincible, and when they both pull away from each other, she sees that bright gleam in his eyes again. They both awkwardly step away from one another, and Elsword almost trips backwards and lands on the floor when stepping away. Neither of them know what to say or how to say it, this wasn't planned by either of them, so Elsword clears his throat and lifts up his Great Sword and balances it on his right shoulder.

He turns away, walking to the exit of the tent, his face still red and burning hot. And Aisha faces the other way, waiting for him to leave, glancing at the ground as she does so. How does she go from here? Does she stop Elsword from leaving? Does she follow after him? She doesn't find the courage in herself to do either of these things, so she watches Elsword slowly leave the tent from the corner of her eyes and sighs. Cursing herself and calling herself stupid in a whisper. She has already gone so far, but she cannot find a way to take it to the next step, she has only realized her feelings now, she doesn't feel ready yet. But that shouldn't have been an issue, she should have done more, as she's not sure if Elsword will even be by her side once that tattoo reaches the number zero. Time isn't on her side, she should have taken the opportunity. She begins to weep once more, now for a different reason, as she realizes she forgot to do the most important thing.

Elsword might fall over and die at any moment, and Aisha hadn't done what she wishes she did more than anything else. She collapses to the ground, repeating Elsword's name over and over again as her face becomes moist from all the tears coming out of her eyes.

She hadn't even told him that she loves him.


	72. No 61: The Beginning of The End

**God...I feel **_**terrible**_** after writing this. This has gotten far darker than I could have predicted, I apologize in advance for that.**

**Sorry for the wait, things have gotten pretty busy thanks to another set of upcoming exams, but I'll be sure to keep posting!**

**Also, in this story, the Diabolic Esper is a dark side of Add that comes out when it sees fit. When transformed, Add is gone and the person in his place is Esper, the one destined to destroy the world. **

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

This isn't what Add was expecting at _all._

Creating a time distortion to step through had put a heavy strain on him and his vision was slightly blurred as he exited the portal and arrived at his destination, but he could still see where he was.

It's his home, the village from his past, and old memories rush through his mind. He sees young boys and girls playing football in the dirt roads, he can see builders constructing new houses, and finally, he can see sophisticated scientists roaming the area with books in their arms. He cannot recognize these people by their faces, but he knows that the last time he was here he was but a small child, so that isn't what makes this feel so strange, so surreal. No, what makes Add frown is more of a gut feeling, as something simply doesn't seem right.

His Nasod Dynamos, now black and sharp around the edges, circle slowly around him as he slowly and cautiously enters the village and walks along one of the paths. People passing by give Add quick glances, looking curiously at the young, white-haired boy with machines hovering behind him. He can feel it himself, he's very out of place here, but the relief of being home keeps him from thinking about it. Even if he has a wrong feeling about all of this, he knows that he'll soon be with his mother again. Gradually, he starts to recognize the houses he passes and starts making a mental map of the village, trying to remember where his own house these people by their faces, but he knows that the last time he was here he was but a small child, so that isn't what makes this feel so strange, so surreal. No, what makes Add frown is more of a gut feeling, as something simply doesn't seem right.

Add isn't smiling, he cannot feel the sensation of smiling on his face. He frowns and wonders himself, why isn't he happy right now? He feels relieved but uneasy, as though he _shouldn't _be happy. Is this because of the guilt of leaving his friends? Or is something wrong with the village?

Add pauses and stops walking, glaring at a familiar group of children playing tag to his right. These kids give Add a sense of déjà vu, perhaps these kids are childhood friends of his that he has forgotten about. He thinks about walking up to the giggling and mischievous kids but hesitates and decides against it, they're not important. The only thing that is important is what happens next.

Add remembers this part well, the attack on his village. He flicks his wrist and summons a holographic screen from the Nasod Dynamos and checks the approximate time on it. The Dynamos had already set a specific timer and is currently counting down. Add stares at the timer on the screen, it says only forty seconds left until the Nasod attack that destroys this beautiful village, but Add won't let that happen. He clenches his right fist and watches as purple electricity gathers behind him. A few people turn around and stare at the crackling power, stepping away in fear, but Add doesn't care, this unearthly power will be their saviour. They'll soon see that he is their hero, and that he saved them from utter destruction.

Twenty seconds left, Add gets into a battle stance and sighs. He now has the power of both the Nasod Armour and the strength of his Nasod Drones. He also has the ability to distort time in his Nasod Dynamos now, but he won't even need that power to defeat the incoming Nasods, he's killed far more dangerous enemies than simple machines.

Ten seconds left, Add's eyes widen and he finally begins to grin, this is it, it's time to tear apart the Nasods that will try to destroy his home. The Nasod Dynamos spark with life from Add's excitement and glow even brighter, and Add prepares to command the Dynamos to go all out against its enemies.

But the timer reaches zero, and there isn't a Nasod in sight. Add's small smile very slowly and gradually fades and the Dynamos stop gathering energy behind him. There are no Nasods to fight, the village isn't under attack, and people are still staring at Add cluelessly, wondering why a boy like him is doing with his contraptions. Add himself blinks a few times, confused and unable to understand what is happening. He stares a couple of times back to the timer on the hologram of the Nasod Dynamos, and it clearly states that it has reached zero and that the attack should happen now. Add lowers his head and squints his eyes, what is going on? Did Add remember the attack on his village differently? Was the attack of Nasods supposed to happen later on?

No, that experience…watching everyone die in front of his eyes traumatized him, he could never make a mistake about it. The Nasods should be attacking the village right _now._

Add folds his arms, considering all of the possibilities and reluctantly speaks to the Nasod Dynamos as people crowd around him, staring at him as though he is an outsider. It is understandable to Add, he _did_ just power up the Nasod Dynamos in front of them for no reason.

"Nasod Dynamos, calculate the discrepancy rate of my current surroundings and compare it to the data I have imputed." Add commands the Dynamos in a deep, low, and angered tone as people continue to stare. The Nasod Dynamos remained quiet for a few moments before responding.

"The rate is 42.72%. Due to this high discrepancy rate, the chances of this world being the exact world of the one imputed is low to none. Final calculation, this is not the same world." The Nasod Dynamos informs Add in a robotic, female voice, causing Add to gasp, he had not expected the rate to be so low.

"But then…" Add mutters, glancing around at the small village and the villagers around him. "…where am I?"

A masked man comes from out of the sky above Add, stepping out of a similar mirror that Add had made himself. Add isn't surprised by this at all, he knows how stubborn Glave is and how he wants Add as his little, successful experiment. The crowd around Add gasp, looking at the hovering, masked man as though he is from another dimension entirely. Glave ignores them all and stands slowly onto the ground, looking rather tired but restless.

"You're somewhere you shouldn't be," Glave answers Add, a sense of urgency in his voice. He holds out his left hand for Add, tempting him to take it. "Let us go back."

"Explain, Glave. I don't want to play your games any longer. Where are we? This isn't my home, my village was attacked." Add demands of Glave, his arms still folded. He isn't going to take Glave's hand any time soon, he despises that masked man more than anything right now.

"Not in this world." Glave sighs, lowering his hand as he sees that Add has no intent of taking it. "Add, the world you were from is gone now, it can never be travelled to. In this world, your village is never attacked."

"Wha-?" Add gasps, unable to comprehend what Glave is saying, but Glave continues regardless.

"Listen, Add. I have been the Keeper of the time and space continuum for a long time, centuries even, but there's something I've learnt, we aren't alone. There isn't just one world, there are _millions _of them. Some are very similar to others, while others differ drastically. In this world, the one you've been wandering through for so long, this village is never destroyed. The people live peacefully and die out from natural causes. The boy named Add in _this_ world never loses his parents, grows up normally, and becomes a successful scientist." Glave explains for Add, showing the ultimate truth to him.

Multiple worlds. Being in only one of them. None of his suffering ever happening in this world. Add cannot begin to fathom it, and he starts to feel weak in his knees, nearly collapsing, but the electrical currents from the Nasod Dynamos flows through his body and keeps him energized. He glares silently, _hatefully,_ and unfolds his arms.

"Fine, if this isn't the world where my past happened, I'll just travel to the next one."

Glave is the one now to fold his arms, and this time he doesn't even attempt to stop him. Instead, he gives Add a shadow of a shrug.

"Very well, go ahead."

Add opens up the palm of his right hand and allows electricity to run through it, sparking at the very tip of his fingers. He plays with the energy like a ball in his hands before holding it out in front of him to create another portal to step through.

"Nasod Dynamos," He whispers, feeling the electrical power surge throughout his entire body. "Take me to another past."

The Nasod Dynamos made a few noises, buzzed with energy a few times, but made no other response. Add frowns at his creation, wondering why a distortion isn't appearing in front of him. The energy ball is still present in his hand, but it isn't materializing into the portal that he desires. He glares angrily at the Dynamos and waits for an explanation from it.

"Error," The robotic voice of the Dynamos finally speaks, its voice sounding rather distorted itself now. "No other destination to travel to besides this one. Unable to carry out order."

"What? I said take me to another past, you piece of scrap!" Add barks at it, but the Nasod Dynamos simply hover in the air and remain silent. It cannot do anything more, and Add slowly comes to realize it himself.

"Do you get it now? This is the only past there is that you can go to. Even I, with the powers of the continuum, cannot travel to other worlds. This is the only world that there you can be in, Add, and your suffering doesn't happen here."

"How did this happen?! This isn't my world! I don't belong here!" Add shrieks out, seething with hatred.

"I'm afraid I do not know the answer myself. As I explained earlier, I made a library that would throw you forward in time. However, due to circumstances that even I do not understand, the library took you to the future of a different world. One where your past doesn't occur. That library has been destroyed now and there's no way back to your world."

"Then…Eve, Elsword, Raven, Chung…all of the others, are they…?"

"That's right." Glave chuckles dryly as he sees the slow realization crawl across Add's young face. "They're from _this_ world, not yours. You were never meant to meet them, it was by complete accident. You do not belong in that world with your friends, you were never meant to exist there. I explained a while ago _how_ I created you, Add, but I didn't explain _why_. I'll tell you the reason now. It seems as good as a time than ever."

Glave holds out his hand once again, confident that Add will take it this time as he reveals the truth to him. This is the perfect opportunity, such a moment will not happen again. He glares at Add with his one, yellow, visible eye and laughed out his confession.

"I made you so that you would be the perfect Keeper of the time and space continuum."

"…You're lying," Add spits out, though he can feel it in his gut, the stare from Glave's eye is firm and does not waver.

"Think about it, Add. Luto always said that the perfect being would be a human that has the powers of a Nasod. I created that being, and it's you. As the perfect being, you are the most worthy to become my successor. Aizen, your alternate self, was weak because he gave up everything to get his parents back, even throwing away most of his powers except his space manipulation, but _you _are stronger. Come with me, Add. Rule all of time and space, and keep it safe. You shall have the powers of a God."

Add lowers his head, listening to every word that comes out of Glave's mouth, but none of it affects him. His body feels so numb that he cannot feel shock anymore, he cannot feel pain anymore, he can't even think straight anymore. He closes his eyes, gritting his teeth, and when he opens him again, he stares at Glave with a horrifying expression. His sclera are now black, there's a massive, monstrous grin on his face, spanning from ear to ear, and he doesn't look upset. He just looks amused. He feels the obscure sensation of his skin cracking and breaking apart, being replaced with a black armour that crawls across his bones.

The sensation is agonizing and exacting, but it feels so wonderful for Add, he's finally feeling something again. Eve's face flashes through his mind one time but fades almost instantly. Why is he thinking of something as insignificant as that Nasod?

More of his flesh drops down to the ground and the crowd around Add and Glave start screaming in terror as they watch the boy's body fall apart. Every time a patch of his skin would fall, more of the black armour of the Nasod Dynamos would cover it and act as a replacement. The next thing to fall off his body is the skin on his chest, but it immediately repairs itself by covering his chest with more armour, glowing in an ominous, purple light. Exactly where his heart should be, the armour on his body stabs himself and drags his beating heart out. He doesn't need that heart, it's useless to him now, the armour will sustain him. He watches through his pitch black eyes as his red, pumping heart gushes out of his body and bursts as it reaches the ground.

The evolving armour then starts its work on his shoulder, ripping off the flesh mercilessly to cover the area itself. By the end of the excruciating transformation, the black and purple armour has forced itself onto all of his body. **[Diabolic Esper Attire]**

Glave shows a rare display of fear at the transforming monster in front of him and steps back worriedly. Glave cannot even say that Add looks even close to Aizen after changing, the black armour on Add is spiked and has cracks all over it and looks rough on its surface, acting as a second skin. But, out of all of this, one thing truly made Glave afraid for his life now, he had seen something like this in one of his visions. A being with black sclera and dark skin, causing thousands of screams with just a snap of its fingers, but Glave had presumed that the vision was just of a simple demon that he'd have to face. However, as he looks at the being now in Add's place, and wonders if he was really wrong.

The armour seems to be alive and sentient, crawling and spreading across his body and ripping it apart as it sees fit, changing Add's form into something completely different.

Add is gone, and Esper stands in his place, staring cheerfully and playfully at Glave, smiling at him.

"What's wrong, Glave? Lost your nerve?"

"Who…are you…?" Glave whispers back, making no attempt to put a façade to mask his fear.

"What? Do you not recognize me?" The armour-covered, grinning maniac cackles at Glave, enjoying every moment of this. "It's me, Add."

"You're not Add."

"Hm? Well, I guess I'm not _exactly _Add. He was a weakling and a fool, so I got rid of him. You could say that I'm better, improved, greater. I don't plan on taking a new name, but I guess you can just call me the Diabolic Esper."

"You've lost it, you're different, if you'll just allow me to…"

But the Diabolic Esper waits no longer. He's finally free, able to do whatever he wants, and the first thing he does is snap his fingers to change the Nasod Dynamos. His little toys were useful to him back when he was Add, but they'll need an improvement for the new person in his place. The Diabolic Esper summons shadows from his black armour and wraps it around his Dynamos, strengthening them tenfold. These shadows…are they his Dynamos' power or his armour's power...or something else? He doesn't really care, nothing makes him care anymore. His village? Whatever, let it burn. His family? Just more insects to be squashed. His mother? He cannot even remember her face anymore.

"Be honest with yourself, Glave. You can sense my power and you're excited about it. There's finally someone to rival your strength, and you want this fight, you _hunger_ for it. I'll be killing you and destroying this village before I go back to the present, so try to keep things entertaining for me." Esper laughs, holding out his hands and tempting Glave to attack first.

"Don't do this," Glave mutters, shaking his head but summoning blue shards from the continuum behind himself.

"This world is so cruel, rewarding the ones who don't need it but giving nothing to those who work their entire lives to achieve something. After all I've done, I haven't been rewarded. I don't care anymore, but this world cannot continue to exist."

"What do you mean…? You're not actually saying you'll…?"

"That's right, I'll destroy this pathetic world!" Esper shrieks out at the top of his lungs, no smile on his face anymore.

Glave doesn't need to hear anything else. He opens his hands, pulling blue shards from the glowing energy behind him. They thrash and curl around him, then rises into a giant wave that rolls towards his opponent, not caring for the people around him and how many casualties there will be. The Diabolic Esper falls to one knee under the onslaught. It's a test. Glave's testing him, seeing how strong he is after his new transformation. When the wave resides, Esper lungs forward, throwing a Nasod powered punch. Glave ducks under the punch and grabs Esper, lifting him off his feet, taking him to the rough, rocky ground below. Glave's fists came down, battering his face. Esper tries to wrap his legs around Glave's waist to stop him but another strong fist collides with his face and he hears the front portion of his skull crack. Bone doesn't easily, and Esper laughs happily, enjoying the feeling.

Glave's fists are like hammers, driving Esper into the ground, the earth giving way beneath him. How delightful.

Esper then reaches up with one hand, his fingers gripping Glave's mask, and he pulls Glave down to him as he rises up from the earth. He slams his broken forehead into Glave's mask in order to break it apart, but only succeeds in making a crack on it. Instead, Esper pushes himself to his feet and kicks, his foot finding the perfect stop in Glave's ribs. He kicks again, and again, shunting him along the ground. Glave tries to get up but Esper grabs his head and starts twisting, aiming to pull the whole thing right off. Glave screams in pain and summons more time shards to crash into Esper's face, throwing him backwards.

Esper gets up immediately and opens up a gate of time above Glave, snapping his fingers to materialize orbs of compressed energy to drop out of them, a full barrage exploding on Glave.

"Stardust Shower!" He yells as the gate relentlessly fires more and more orbs to Glave, causing the masked man to let out more of his screams, and it's like music to Esper's ears. He decides to follow up with a few more attacks. "Quake Buster, Pulse Gatling, Quicksilver Accel!"

Esper hovers up into the sky, the shadows around him lifting him and giving him flight. He raises his right foot and kicks an energy pulse downwards, allowing it to surge through the ground and cause a series of explosions. Glave transforms some of his blue cubes to become shields in front of him, but he still receives some damage from it, and Esper isn't done yet. He lands onto the ground again and commands his drones to fire continuous shots at Glave, and slams an energy ball into Glave's chest before he can react and stop the attack. Esper watches in fascination as Glave yelps weakly and regenerates his body, it's quite the sight to see.

As Glave coils away to catch his breath and summon more time shards, Esper examines his own pain, then dampens it and heals himself too. He heals his back first, seeing how most of it is gone, and grows his fingernails back too. Esper's new abilities to use time and space as he sees fit has made him feel invincible, regenerating himself at a faster rate than Glave.

Glave suddenly vanishes before Esper's very eyes after healing, Esper looks around and Glave emerges behind him, curling his left hand into a fist and driving it into Esper's chin, causing him to bite his tongue. He'd have to remember to grow that back soon.

Esper throws another punch at Glave, hitting the masked man the first time, but missing him by an inch the second time. Glave grabs Esper by the wrist, squeezing it so tightly that it breaks the bones inside, Esper chuckles and heals them instantly. Glave growls, seeing Esper with his incredible regeneration abilities and reaches for his face, his thumb finding Esper's right eye. Esper attempts to turn his head away but his grip is strong, and Esper begins to wonder, if he let Glave burst his eyeball, how fast would he be able to repair it?

Esper doesn't know the answer to that question, so he lets Glave do it, and as an experiment he doesn't weaken the pain he feels this time.

Glave's thumb presses down, Esper's right eye bursts like a balloon, and he shrieks. Esper's entire body convulses and he twists backwards. Glave takes the opportunity to land a few more kicks and punches into Esper's guts, but he doesn't care about that. All he cares about is the extraordinary pain he's feeling right now. His hands are covering his face, feeling the blood and the jelly of his eye leak down his cheek. He realizes that he's still screaming from the agony, the pain is still present, so he decides to cut it off now. Immediately, he stops screaming and he laughs calmly, pressing whatever is left of his eye back into its socket. A very interesting experiment. The pain was a nice experience.

Esper opens his good eye as he repairs the other one with his time-space powers. Glave is flying right towards him, and the masked man crashes directly into Esper's stomach and sends them both rocketing across the village. They're rocketing through the sky, going at an incredibly high speed, and when they collide with a wall, Esper feels most of his body crack and snap inside. A large explosion occurred upon their collision, and Esper now finds himself inside a house of some sorts, though most of the house is now rubble thanks to Glave and him.

Esper manages a shaky laugh. His body is smashed. His lungs have burst and his new, artificial heart isn't beating. His limbs are twisted in different directions and there isn't much of his spine left. He can feel his own brain start to swell, so he begins repairing that first, he cannot do much thinking without his brain.

Then he heals his spine and raises his head, looking around curiously. Most of the villagers had scrambled and run away from the fight between gods. Some are still left, staring at him with opened mouths. Were they still standing there to watch? Or were they paralyzed from fear?

Esper doesn't know, but he decides that he likes an audience and chooses not to kill them just yet. Glave lies a few feet away, motionless. Esper shrugs, he'll probably just come back to life as well soon enough, so he decides to just heal his internal organs for now. He restarts his heart and draws air from his re-formed lungs.

Next are his limbs. His bones make cracking sounds as they realign and knit themselves back together. Esper reaches behind his head and holds his white hair to make sure that his hair doesn't get trapped in the fissure that heals the back of his skull. The ruptured skin on his face closes over, and as he glances at the smashed floor, he realizes that he has lost a lot of blood, so he makes more and stands up normally.

Glave gradually struggles to his feet too, regenerating his own jaw as his previous had been ripped off by their collision. Esper cackles with delight, Glave is rather a slowpoke when it comes to healing himself. Glave can only heal major injuries in a minute, but it takes just a few seconds for Esper. He walks casually over to Glave, kicking furniture out of the way as he advances. Glave is now kneeling, unable to properly stand up as his kneecaps have yet to heal themselves. Esper decides not to wait, he has had his fun with the masked man now.

Esper drives his knee into Glave's ribcage and watches as the masked man falls to the ground, lying on the floor in front of him. This is priceless to Esper, he has always wanting to see Glave on the ground, bleeding like a pig. He raises his right foot and places it gently on Glave's neck, holding the masked man in place as he speaks.

"That was _really _fun, but I can't wait around forever for you to heal yourself. You've outlived your usefulness now, I'll be destroying this village next."

"D-Don't…" Glave coughs, blood gushing out each time he finishes a sentence. "You can't…destroy this world…it's all we have…you'll die yourself if you destroy reality…"

"You think I haven't thought of that, Glave? I don't care about my own life, nor do I care about others. I just feel like bringing everything to ruin, and once it dies, I'll build my own reality on top of it."

"Add-!"

"Goodbye, old man."

And then Esper presses his foot down on his neck and listens to the sweet sound of it snapping. Glave's body goes limp and cold.

Glave the Keeper is dead, for good.

Esper smiles one last time at the masked corpse and lifts himself into the air again, flying out of the broken down house. He holds his right hand out and stares at the village below him. He truly feels like a God right now, flying high above a village and giving its judgement. He opens up his hand and then slowly closes it, and just like that, his surroundings blow up with bright colours, and Esper laughs at it as though it's an entertaining firework display.

An entire village now reduced to ashes just by one simple command given by his Dynamos, he loves this feeling, the feeling of superiority. He lands back into one house that's still standing, just barely hanging on by a thread. Esper hears the sounds of agonized screams and crying as the last few villagers die out from the fires spreading around the village, they last a little longer than Esper expects them too, but the screams are always welcome to his ears.

He drops into the last house, raising his hand to bring it down to the ground with the snap of his fingers, but he hesitates as he stares at the insides of the building. Most of it is destroyed, but some pictures on the walls have survived, and the pictures send memories flowing through his head. There's a picture right at the entrance of the house, depicting a young boy with white hair and a smiling mother sitting behind him. He realizes whose house this is, this is _his _house.

And the screams he heard could have only come from one person.

He slowly walks over into whatever is left of the living room and sees a burnt, dead body lying in the centre. This body, it has been burnt to the crisp but Esper immediately recognizes it. The long, beautiful, white hair and the simple, blue dress on her, it's his mother. He had killed her without even noticing.

There's a small boy hunched over the body of his dead mother, a white-haired boy with tears flowing down his bruised cheeks. Little Add.

He looks so innocent, so helpless, and it reminds Esper of what he once was. Esper steps slowly towards his younger self, watching little Add cry and weep over his dead mother. Out of all of the people in the village, little Add is the last survivor, Esper notices how ironic and cruel the situation is. He eventually reaches little Add, standing over him like a giant, and little Add turns around to look.

The white-haired boy, the younger, innocent version of Add stares up at the mighty figure standing next to him. It's a man covered in black armour and possessing black scleras, and his hands are drenched in blood. Little Add's tears increase and he stares right into Esper's eyes.

"…Are you the bogeyman?" Little Add asked in a quiet, terrified voice.

"Yes," Esper croaked as he lifted the boy off of the ground and crushed his skull in his right hand.

The boy's body drops to the ground, lifeless and bleeding.

Then Esper leaves Add's body and he collapses to his knees. Add blinks a few times, his scleras back to a normal colour. He slowly turns his head around, staring at the utter destruction that he is in the middle of.

Add crawls weakly over to his mother and his own corpses, lowers his head, and cries as loudly as he can. Howling at the sky and cursing everything in this world. Tears rush down his face, his lungs swell up, and his throat starts to burn as he cries loud enough for it to echo throughout the rubble of the whole village.

He had done this, all of these deaths were because of him, he slaughtered them all without a second thought.

Add opens his mouth and whispers quietly to himself, staring at the blood oozing out of his hands

"**I'm a monster."**


	73. Author's Note: Story's Birthday!

**Hello, Zacaro here, and I have something super duper cool to announce! C:**

**It's this story's birthday! **

**I seriously cannot believe it, it's actually been a full ****_year_**** since I've started this story. It's been a crazy, wonderful, and incredible ride. On the way, I've met so many great people and you're one of them. You've been supporting this story simply by reading it, and I absolutely love you for that.**

**Just looking back at my first couple of chapters, I can see how far I've come. I'm still learning, but hopefully I'm making a steady improvement.**

**I'd like to give a big shout out right now to DiscordArc for helping me through this. If you're reading this, thanks a bunch for giving me advice and feedback for this story. I could have never gotten this far without you.**

**Oh, but of course, I haven't forgotten about the amazing people that have been supporting this story and keeping it going. That's right, the awesome people that have been following this story and been giving me feedback. This is going to be sort of long, but here we go!**

**A big, warm, special thanks to Anysa Evans, Azuha, Babylon1914, Blackrosewizard25, BlakithLeo, BreadCrumble, CainLimbo, Cederz, ChillGuyFawkes, Code-Nemesis, Codmester, ColorlessNight, CrimsonSky47, Danzee, Dark White Fang, DiscordArc, Doubled-Helix, EagleShire, EmiyaKiritsugu1995, Erwerer, Fureou, Hatsune Feii, Hyrandil, ILikeTrains4Life, Kage Sunaipa, Kinok, KnightSpark, Lamker, Lovino and Feliciano, Luciela Rufus, Majestic War, MitusAura, MultiLevelsofMusic, Netishi, NoctisRae, Novachrono, Obsucuria, PixeliteMC, PokeHetaFan, PurpleGuysPonytail, SendoErika, Sharkist, Sky-Of-Silver-Lining, SolarCorona, Solera, Techno-chan, Temen, The Little Lolita Gamer, ThiefofStealth, ThisFandomIsntDead, Veriphyd, WhiteMk, Yeelimso, Yoshida-kun, YuHime, Zahran, bennydragon85, charafang, firestorm83, grangus, hongren, hyunkel1234, INamika, imouto army, legok2007, marine0ak, mauraven667rider, shikigi, tenshi153 and whitemist0.**

**You've all been following this story and I cannot thank you enough, truly I can't. You are awesome. You are the best. Thank you SO much for sticking with me through this crazy journey. We're already 70% through it now, but I will never forget how this started and how you kept me going.**

**I promise to keep doing my best, I seriously promise that. For you have given me far more than I could ever deserve, and I shall do whatever it takes to repay you. **

**Honestly, the words escape me, and I do not know how to express my gratitude. So, I'll just do it the old fashioned way.**

**Thank you. Seriously, thank you. I'm more grateful than you could ever imagine. Thank you SO much for supporting me, I'll ****_never _****forget it.**

**Here's to the second year of The Demonic Duo, and to another year of being with awesome people like you!**

**Cheers~!**


	74. (Special Chapter) A Magical Christmas

**Hello all, and Merry Christmas!**

**'Tis the season to be jolly, and I wanted to enjoy it by making this chapter. A special, seasonal one. I love Christmas, absolutely adore it, and I wanted to share my love for it right here!**

**This chapter isn't canon to the story, however, as it wouldn't make much sense that way. This is just a chapter to celebrate this awesome holiday!**

**Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful Christmas~! C:**

* * *

It was December 25th, and Ciel couldn't remember the last time he had celebrated it.

When you're a heartless killer on the streets, ending people's lives for just a bit of coin, it's difficult to get into the holly, jolly mood for the special occasion of Christmas.

All of the Elgang were back at Velder, invited directly by the Red Knights to enter the Great Hall of their headquarters for a party. Except from Add, Raven, and Ciel himself, everyone was overjoyed and ready to celebrate. They leaped into the air and rushed to their bedrooms to pack all of their essentials inside.

Ciel didn't receive the same happiness that they were feeling, he hated parties and other places that were bound to be crowded by people. Ciel didn't like being around a large amount of people, he felt so left out and different from them. He couldn't laugh like they did, he couldn't sing and cheer like they did, he didn't even know a single Christmas Carole. He would never fit in at the party, but everyone else was going, including Lu, so he knew that complaining at this point would be completely redundant.

He was currently at the house that Elesis had rented out just for this occasion, and it was near to the location of the party. Ciel was in his own room, staring blankly in the mirror. Unlike almost everyone else, he had not dressed yet. He was still wearing his navy blue jacket, with his white and blue hair in a complete mess. His cross-shaped earrings dangling by his ears, swaying every time that Ciel would shake his head.

The mirror showed the reflection of a bored and uninteresting man, and Ciel knew that going to the Christmas party looking like this wouldn't be a smart idea. He glanced downwards and the table in between him and the mirror and saw a comb lying on top of it. Perhaps he could comb his hair, make it look presentable, and maybe he could splash some water on his face to freshen his face up.

But what was the point? Ciel couldn't see one.

"Still sulking, huh?" Lu giggled as she entered the room. She hadn't gotten ready yet either, but she had already applied some makeup onto her small face and polished her nails to glimmer in a bright pink shade.

Ciel looked away from the mirror for a moment turning back to look at his master. He saw the makeup and made a face, though not intentionally.

"Are you sure you should be wearing makeup? It would seem distasteful."

"And why is that?" Lu huffed, slightly insulted.

"Because you look like a child, a child wearing makeup, and people will find that strange."

Lu remained quiet for a few seconds, probably putting what Ciel had said into consideration and then slowly lowered her head. She grumbled and stomped her left foot onto the floor.

"I keep forgetting I have the body of a human kid." She eventually hissed, her big, blue eyes flickering with frustration. "You should have seen my original form. I was absolutely gorgeous. I had curves and a face that made everyone look my way."

Ciel faced the other way and looked at the mirror again, he wasn't about to tell her that he didn't want her to ever change her appearance to a mature woman. He hadn't the guts to ever tell Lu that, she would look at him a different way, and _not _the good kind of different.

"It's fine, you look wonderful right now. I'm simply warning you that you might get a few stares at the party."

"I hate it when you're right."

"I know,"

Aisha then burst into the room, taking both Lu and Ciel by surprise. She hadn't changed out of the revealing costume that Angkor had made for her, which caused Ciel to blush slightly, he still hadn't gotten used to that look. Lu raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side, looking at Aisha.

"Has anyone seen my earrings? I can't find them anywhere."

"Apologizes, but we haven't seen them."

"Why are you still dressed like that, Aisha? It's a Christmas party we're going to, you know."

Aisha growled angrily, she had already heard that question many times from everyone else in the group, and she had gotten rather tired retelling the story to them.

"I made a deal with Angkor, remember? I can't change out of this."

"You might as well not come," Lu sighed, glanced at her pink nails and admiring them. "Everyone will judge you."

"Lu, that's by no means a nice thing to say."

Lu turned to Ciel and blinked a few times. She was clueless.

"Um, it wasn't meant to be nice."

"Listen, Aisha." Ciel then grumbled, trying to fix things before Aisha broke down into tears. "Even if you cannot change that attire, perhaps a festive coat will do. With the coat on, you'll look fine and Angkor's clothes won't be obvious."

"Right, thanks." Aisha muttered, not in the mood to speak anymore. She left the room in a sulk similar to the one that Ciel himself had earlier, and Ciel shot Lu a cold look.

"What?" Lu asked in protest, and Ciel stared at her long enough until Lu understood what the problem was. "Oh, come one, I was just telling the truth."

Ciel sighed again and shook his head, he wasn't about to have this argument and decided to change the subject. He attempted to cheer himself up by putting on a smile on his face and turning his entire body around to Lu. He readjusted his jacket and brushed with white and blue hair with the fingers of his right hand.

"Well, how do I look?" He asked her, his best smile on display for Lu.

Lu hesitated and remained silent for a couple of moments before folding her arms and clearing her throat.

"Do you want an honest answer?"

"Yes,"

"Terrible."

"Alright, try to be honest less often." Ciel moaned, knowing himself that he looked like a mess. He looked at Lu and she immediately grabbed him by the arm and giggled in a cute fashion.

"Oh, don't worry! I'll make you look great!"

"Wait-what?" Ciel yelped as Lu dragged him across the room and into the dressing room nearby.

Ciel entered the room, it had large, human-sized mirrors circling the centre of the room, and there were clothes on hangers and all over the floor. Ciel scanned his surroundings silently and saw both male and female clothing inside, the Elgang had been busy in here. Lu grinned happily and started searching one of the drawers in the corner of the dressing room, and Ciel placed his hands on his hips.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you think? I'm getting things for you to wear!" Lu laughed, her utter enthusiasm emitting from her as she picked out different things from the drawer. "I can't have my servant not look well at a party, I'm going to fix you up."

"I don't need fixing." Ciel grumbled.

Lu glanced back at him for a moment, wrinkled her nose, and shook her head.

"Trust me, you do."

And then for the next fifteen minutes, Lu was dashing around the room, forcing Ciel to take off and wear multiple different kinds of attires. First black coats, then red coats, then different shirts to wear underneath. Ciel stood there silently, watching Lu constantly pick out clothes that she found and putting them on her servant. Ciel felt embarrassed, having to continually take off his shirt to put another on, it was uncomfortable for him, but Lu took no notice.

Ciel looked down at himself to see what Lu had put on him now. It was a white shirt on him, with the picture of an anchor on it. His jacket was a deep sea blue and he had black, skinny jeans on. What made the costume utterly ridiculous though was the hat, Lu had put a sailor's hat on him. Ciel glared at himself in the mirror with tired eyes, he was actually beginning to prefer how he looked like before Lu dressed him up.

"So," Lu panted, catching her breath from all the running around. "What do you think?"

"…I have no idea what it was."

"It's a sailor costume. Not too shabby, am I right?"

"I look ridiculous."

"Don't be silly! You look great! I've dressed you up perfectly."

"Lu, I'm not a Barbie doll."

But Lu had completely ignored him, she had gotten too carried away now. She had forgotten all about dressing herself up and commanded Ciel to take the sailor costume off to wear something else she found.

Ciel took a deep sigh and did as Lu asked obediently, repeatedly putting on and taking off the clothes being handed to him.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

It was finally midnight and the party had begun at the Red Knights' headquarters. Ciel looked from outside the building. It was tall, reaching up to the heavens, and it's marble materials glistened and gleamed in the elegant moonlight. It had been blessed by the beauty of the night, and everyone was rushing inside.

Ciel watched people pass by, both nobles and ordinary villagers, dressed up for the occasion. He looked at himself for a moment and sighed, he didn't look all that bad, to be honest.

After the dressing up situation with Lu, Ciel had told her that he would simply wear a tuxedo instead, and that's exactly what he did. He had navy blue tuxedo on, unlike the other black-coloured ones around him, but it didn't matter, he liked blue even if it was on a tuxedo. He had asked Ara for help with his hair, and Ara did it with a large smile on her face. She was clumsy, but she knew how to handle hair.

Ciel's white and blue hair had been sleeked backwards, looking like majestic waves of hair reaching for the back of his head. His blue tuxedo was thin and sleek as well, fitting his body perfectly, and he was grateful that he had found it.

The Elgang had separated into the males and females, as according to tradition of Velder. The males would go to one side of the building, just before the party started, and would prepare themselves, and the girls would do likewise on the other side of the building. Ciel glanced at his male friends as he entered the building with them. They headed straight to the male bathrooms.

Elsword had no chance of properly brushing his spiked, red hair, but he still looked smart. He had put on a tuxedo as well, but he hadn't closed all of the buttons and there were small traces of dust on it. It fit Elsword well, however, as making him like anymore smart would feel unnatural.

Raven and Chung looked quite gentlemanly as well, as Ciel was quick to notice. Raven looked slightly out of place with his incredibly scarred face and the annoyed frown that was hard to miss, and it didn't look like that frown was leaving any time soon. Chung seemed very timid and small, his anxious eyes looking with envy at all the confident people around him, but his white, lengthy coat that he had donned looked exquisite, so he more than made up for it.

Add was nowhere to be in sight, however, and Ciel wondered if he had been running late. Ciel wouldn't be surprised if Add didn't show up at all though, he couldn't begin to imagine Add actually being at a party.

Ciel and the others entered the male bathrooms and saw it abandoned. They were the only ones inside and they could finally breathe a sigh of relief. It had been difficult out there for them, but they could relax now and get themselves ready.

"Wow," Elsword chuckled, brushing his hand through his spiked hair. "There's a _lot_ of people out there."

"Indeed. I'm no fan of…gatherings." Raven mumbled, struggling in his black suit, scratching at him with his human hand. Ciel could see it himself, it looked incredibly wrong to see Raven wearing a suit, but Ciel said nothing about it and Raven continued. "Rena forced me to wear it. Well, she also forced me to come."

"It cannot be all bad. We're grown men, gatherings like these will be happening often and we need to be ready for it."

"Yes, I agree." Chung whispered, carefully readjusting the bowtie wrapped around his neck, looking at himself in the mirrors of the bathrooms. "And, while I didn't get a good look, I heard that the girls have prepared their best dresses."

"Heh, that's going to be a sight to see." Elsword noted, leaning his elbows against one of the sinks, washing his face with water and staring at himself through the mirror with an anxious look. He was pretending to be confident, but everyone could see right past it.

The door to the male's bathroom suddenly opened up and everyone turned around to see who had entered.

It was Add.

And Elsword, Chung, and even Ciel burst into laughter when they saw him.

Add had a purple tuxedo on, looking very similar to Ciel's, but had been decorated with flowers and he had a bowtie around his neck that looked like it was choking him. His hair had been brushed all to the right side of his face, covering his right eye, and looked far too sophisticated for someone like Add to have.

Add's left eye twitched with irritation and his face was a bright shade of red. He watched the boys laugh and he sighed.

"I hate you. I hate you all." Add grumbled, struggling with his tight, small tuxedo.

"Who did this?! You look hilarious!" Elsword cackled out, hugging his sides as he couldn't stop laughing. Add made a disgusting face and groaned.

"Eve. She forced me to wear this ridiculous thing and also gave me the worst hairstyle in all of Elrios."

"I feel your pain." Raven muttered to Add. He didn't like this situation any more than Add did, and he began wondering if he could sneak out of the party when no one was around.

"Don't worry, Add." Chung said reassuringly once he had stopped laughing. He put on a serious face and nodded at him. "You look fine."

Add didn't respond to Chung's compliment and acted like he didn't care about it.

But when Add turned around, Ciel spotted what seemed to be a shadow of a smile on Add's face. Ciel smiled too as he saw this, Add was just as insecure about himself as everyone else.

The sounds of music and the jiggling of bells suddenly began to echo from outside of the bathroom. The party had begun for real. Elsword quickly finished washing his face, Chung readjusted his bowtie one last time, Raven gave out another annoyed groan, and Add swore under his breath. It was time.

The boys stepped outside of the bathroom and headed to the Great Hall.

The room was gargantuan. It had crystal chandeliers hanging from its extravagant ceiling and there were tables spread out everywhere. People were rushing around, either dancing or eating all of the different snacks on the tables, and Elsword immediately chose the latter option. He darted to the food and quickly gulped down anything that looked good. Ciel walked past the tables, he wasn't in the mood for eating.

Even in a hall so expansive, the place was crowded with people and Ciel had to squeeze past people in order to move forward. He gently pushed people aside trying to find a place to sit. He had no plans of participating in the party, he simply wished to have a place to rest and wait for it to all be over.

The echoes of laughter and speech were slowly driving Ciel insane too, he despised loud places, and he wished for everyone to just be quiet. He had lost where the other boys were, he had walked off without them, and he didn't think he'd find them any time soon with all of the crowds around him. He finally found an unoccupied chair positioned near a chocolate fountain and he sat on it before anyone else could.

He rested his legs as he sat down and sighed. He wondered how long it would take for the party to be over, he didn't want it to take too long, for he hated waiting.

He watched people dance around him, laughing and having a good time. They waltzed, cheered, and sang to their heart's content, they were actually enjoyed themselves. Ciel stared at them and thought to himself, would he have turned out like them if he had been raised normally? Could he also experience the same joy that they did? He couldn't feel it, and he lowered his head slowly, he didn't belong here.

However, suddenly, the waves of people momentarily subsided and Ciel caught a glimpse of what looked like a little girl with white hair.

He rose from his seat and squinted. Even if it had been for just a moment, Ciel was sure that he saw Lu.

Ciel couldn't explain it properly, but being at her side now was what he needed most. He walked through the crowd of people, searching for Lu once more, but he couldn't see her. He began walking on his tip-toes, carefully pushing past people celebrating and enjoying the party.

In almost an instant, light shot down on Ciel and its brightness caused Ciel to blink a few times. There was light shining down on him and he looked up to see the source of the light.

It was a large crystal ball hung up on the ceiling and he was directly under it. He realized it now, he was in the very centre of the Great Hall.

And standing under the light with him, Ciel saw all of his teammates.

Elsword was standing beside Aisha, chewing down on a turkey leg while listening to one of her stories in the desert. Raven was stood beside Rena, both of them enjoying what looked to be champagne, and they were laughing their heads off. Ciel had never seen Raven properly laugh, but it looked well on him. Chung had surprisingly been speaking to Ara, but Ara seemed absolutely delighted by his presence, and Ciel watched them slowly warm up to each other.

Add, still blushing crazily, was attempting to dance with Eve. He tried the classical waltz first, but he kept stumbling and falling over himself, and Ciel could see Eve secretly laughing at him every time she turned her head the other way.

"This is stupid." Add hissed as he fall onto his back this time, Eve held out a hand and pulled him back up.

"You are steadily learned though." She spoke back in a monotone voice, doing her best to hide her giggles.

"You'd better give me some of your codes like you promised me, I'm not doing this for any other reason."

"Sure," She muttered back as they tried to do the waltz once more. She was lying.

Elesis was nowhere to be seen, but that wasn't a big surprise to Ciel, as a party of the Red Knights, it was obvious that she was going to be busy greeting all of the guests.

Ciel looked at all of his friends. The men were smart-looking, wearing their suits and tuxedos as though they were born to wear them, and the girls had elegant, beautiful, stunning dresses on. Ara had a black, short one on, Aisha had covered most of herself with a brown one, Rena had a green one with leaves on it, and Eve's white dress was sparkling in the light shining down upon them.

But then Ciel stopped observing his friends and began frowning, he couldn't see Lu with the gang. He expected her to be here, wearing a dress like all of the other girls.

Ciel then felt a tug on the back of his blue tuxedo and he spun around. He saw Lu, but not in the way he imagined.

Lu stood there, small and tiny, and around half his size. She had been lowering her head, blushing uncontrollably. She no longer had her cheeky, smug expression on her, but instead the look of a girl who never been to a party before. She fiddling with her fingers shyly, glancing up for a second to look at Ciel.

"How…do I look?" She asked as quietly as possible, barely being heard above the sounds of laughter around them.

Ciel stared blankly for a moment, he hadn't been expecting this at all.

Lu wasn't wearing a dress.

She was wearing a Santa costume.

The costume was small enough to fit her and she even had a Christmas hat on. She was wearing red from head-to-toe and she had a golden belt wrapped around her skinny waist.

Ciel originally thought that he wanted to see Lu in a dress, but he had completely changed his mind.

"You look amazing, Lu, and super cute." Ciel chuckled, patting the top of her hat. Lu looked away and acted casual about the compliment, as though she wasn't at all pleased by it.

"Yes, um, well, I know." She mumbled, her fidgeting of the fingers picking up slightly in pace. "You look good too, that tuxedo…fits you well."

Ciel didn't say anything.

He didn't even need to say anything. Suddenly, this whole party seemed like the most wonderful place he had ever been too. He was finally happy to be here, alongside Lu.

He bent down to her height, brought his hand in close, and gently kissed her on the cheek.

Lu jumped backwards, her face as red as a tomato, and she squealed in a high-pitched voice.

"C-Ciel-!"

But Lu stopped as she watched Ciel hold out a hand for her, wanting her to take it.

"Want to dance?"

Lu hesitated, fidgeted with her fingers one last time, and nodded slowly.

"…Y-Yes."

Then Lu placed her hand into his and they began dancing.

Lu wasn't very skilled, but Ciel held her up carefully and taught her the basic steps. They moved back and forth, and soon Lu's hesitant expression turned into one of absolute happiness and joy. Ciel swept her off her feet, doing the waltz to the best of his ability.

The demon master and the servant had their eyes locked into each other's, they grinned, and danced the night away alongside their friends.

Ciel smiled as he lifted Lu into the air and placed her back onto the ground swiftly, and as he dipped her, he smiled calmly at her and chuckled.

"Merry Christmas, Lu."


	75. No 62: The War For Hamel (1 out of 4)

**Hello all, it's time for the war to begin.**

**As the title of this chapter suggests, the war will be split into four whole chapters, it's going to be the biggest battle of the story yet!**

**Special thanks to YingYang universalbalance and Shadow of Mirkwood for following/favouring this story! You rock! Thanks for your awesome support! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

Chung expected this fight to be just like any other battle he had been a part of.

He was wrong.

The moment he left the walls of Hamel, seemingly-endless waves of demons greeted him, and now, he's fighting for his life.

The battle for Hamel has started.

Being surrounded by Hamel soldiers donning blue and silver armour gives Chung a nostalgic feeling, but he cannot enjoy it for long, as the demons immediately rush up to him and slash away with their long, unearthly claws.

Chung holds up his white Destroyer, blocks the onslaught of attacks, and looks behind him. Just like how Elesis had planned, Raven and Rena are battled beside him, watching his back. Raven takes out the first demon attacking Chung by cutting it in half with his Nasod Arm, and Rena keeps the battle balanced by constantly raining down arrows of magic. They're here to fight alongside Chung's side, and that keeps him strong.

He pulls out his Silver Shooters as more demons approach and fires a barrage of magical bullets at them, piercing right through their hearts. He hasn't used his twin pistols too many times, but he's already using them as though he's an expert, firing down at enemies with precision. Once his pistols take out the first wave of demons, the second wave immediately follows afterwards, and Chung sighs as he unleashes multiple missiles from his Destroyer.

This is unlike any fight he has ever been in. In the past, there were only small groups of demons he'd need to defeat, but now, all he sees are demons, no matter what direction he looks in. Explosions expand around him, and every time he kills a few more demons, there are identical ones waiting for him, never giving him a break.

And gradually, he begins to see his own soldiers begin to fall. The demons aren't too strong by themselves, but their sheer number is already starting to overwhelm them. It doesn't feel like they're fighting an army of demons, it feels like they're fighting the entire race. Chung flinches and feels a stinging sensation in his heart every time he sees another soldier drop dead. He doesn't even know them and has never seen their face, but they're dying to give him victory, and it feels wrong to Chung. He doesn't want to see anyone fall, especially not his own people.

He understands being at the front lines of a war will look like this, and he thought he was ready for this, but he isn't.

Just as he smashes another demon into the ground with his Destroyer, he sees another soldier, a young female, scream as she collapses and bleeds out. Chung's eyes widen, he cannot take it anymore.

No one should have to die here, but he's letting it happen.

Chung growls ominously as he smacks his Destroyer against the ground, causing the area around him shake, and he summons all of the power from his Guardian Stone to strengthen him.

And the Freiturnier armour activates.

The white armour coils and wraps itself around Chung's skin, attached itself together and keeping Chung completely protected from harm. It cover's Chung entire body and finishes by placing a white, hooded helmet onto Chung's head. Chung feels taller, stronger, and the Freiturnier armour immediately forces all of its energy to surge throughout Chung's body.

He hasn't worn this armour with its full power since his battle against his father in Hamel. At that time he was weaker and more reckless, but now, he vows that he will not fail.

Raven sees Chung transform and silently chuckles, proud that the timid boy is finally going all out against the demons. He darts forwards towards the next batch of demons and smiles, he isn't going to let Chung fight all of the battle though.

"X Crash!" He roars as he slashes twice with his Nasod Arm, causing a series of explosions to follow afterwards that blows the demons' bodies apart.

Raven hates that he has the use the Nasod Arm's power in order to hold his own against the army of demons, but he knows that it's the only way, and continues to punch or claw through anything else in his way.

Rena watches Raven mercilessly claw down the demons he comes across and laughs nervously, it made her happy to see Raven doing so well, but the way he's enjoying the violence makes her feel slightly uncomfortable.

She pulls out her bow once again and charges up a stronger arrow as the next wave of demons descend upon them.

"Wind Blast!" She yells as the magical arrow rockets towards the demons and creates a green explosion.

Even with their strength, however, the demons keep coming, attacking mindlessly.

Chung slams his Destroyer against yet another wave of demons and follows it up by unleashing another barrage of bullets. With his Freiturnier armour on, he doesn't need to reload, and relentlessly fires more and more missiles to home in and explode upon impact. Three demons rush to Chung from behind, hoping to catch him off guard, but Raven leaps in the way and reduces them to fleshly chunks with his silver blade.

"Thanks, Raven." Chung muttered from inside his suit of armour. He pants heavily as he watches another group of demons dash towards him and he points at them while glancing at Rena. "Rena! Take them out! I'm going to charge up an attack for the next wave!"

Rena nods understandingly and does exactly that, firing as many arrows as she can, killing the group of demons before they even reach Chung.

Chung's Destroyer gradually begins to glow in a blue light, charging up as much energy as it can. Raven stands aside, knowing that he doesn't want to be in the area of the demons when the attack hits. Rena also takes a few steps backing, grinning as she observes Chung's incredible, explosive power.

"Comet Crasher!" Chung screams, leaping into the air and pointing his Destroyer downwards. The Destroyer immediately releases multiple charged missiles towards the ground, causing a mini earthquake beneath them.

Gradually, the demons begin to disperse as their numbers start to decrease, but there's still too many of them, and Chung, Raven, and Rena all start feeling tired. They haven't ever pushed themselves this far before.

Before the fifth wave of demons can reach then, however, a dark blue light flashes in front of them and both Lu and Ciel step out of the light.

Lu gives a cheeky grin to Chung and the others, and Ciel simply seems bored, looking at the incoming wave of demons with a blank expression.

"That's quite a lot of them, this will not be like any other regular fight." He notes, unsheathing his Gunblades from behind his back.

Lu looks excited, rubbing her small hands together with anticipation before turning them into giant, demonic gauntlets.

"This is going to be fun!" She cheers, holding her claws out threateningly. Ciel looks back at Chung, Raven and Rena for a moment, giving them a quick nod.

"Are you three alright?"

"Yeah," Raven answers, rubbing a bloody wound across his right arm. "We held out well, considering the ridiculous number of the demons."

"Well, the Demon Commander of this part of the army should be showing itself soon, so just keep killing whatever demons you can. Lu and I will back you up."

"Thanks, Ciel." Chung chuckles, feeling relieved that he has more fighters by his side.

Ciel nods at the Guardian before pointing out his Gunblades in front of them, the fifth wave of demons are now upon them.

"Ready, Lu?"

"You bet I am! Spectral Spear!" Lu laughs as she materializes different kinds of blue spears around her, throwing them all at the demons before them. The spears slice right through the demons' bodies in an instant, and Ciel chuckles before fighting as well.

He rushes towards the incoming demons and hacks away at them with his Gunblades, sweeping the creatures off their feet and stabbing his weapons through their skulls. One of the demons latch onto his shoulder, trying to bite through his skin, but instead, he shakes the demon off and fires a magical bullet directly through its head. He sighs as his shoulder begins to sting, the demon has already gotten a bite on him.

Lu giggles as she stands by Ciel's side, slashing at all of her enemies with her large claws. As two more demons approach her, her gauntlets grow even bigger, and Lu uses them as fists as she smashes the two demons into the ground, burying them in the rubble. Ciel covers for her, firing away at the demons that get too close to them, and steps down onto one of the demons' skull as he crawls over to him. This isn't truly a challenge for him. He's used to fighting humans, and those at least have actual brains, but the demons seem to just attack at anything they see.

Lu seems to have no trouble killing the demons as well, ripping them apart and watching their ribcages fly out, all while keeping an innocent, cute smile on her face. Ciel isn't sure if he's proud or disturbed by that.

As more demons circle around them, Lu and Rena partner up, acting as support, as Raven and Ciel go for direct attacks. Raven and Ciel fight in a similar fashion, slicing and swinging their blades at high speeds, cutting their enemies with blinding agility, while watching each other's backs. Ciel shoots down a demon that tries to get a sneak attack on Raven, and Raven punches a demon with his Nasod Arm when it attempts to attack from Ciel's blind spot.

Lu observes with a raised eyebrow and eventually giggles at the sight.

"Those two work well together." She remarks as she grabs a demon with her left gauntlet and crushes its skeleton with her grip. Rena nods in concurrence and fires down five more arrows.

"We're definitely at an advantage here, aren't we?" The Elf says back, closing her left eye to concentrate as she shoots a demon from afar.

The ground beneath them begins to shake and vibrate uncontrollably, causing everyone to have trouble retaining their balance. The earth and soil around them begins to cave in and give way as something massive crawls out of it. Ciel grabbed Lu around the waist and pulls her back as she almost falls into the giant hole in the ground.

Huge, slender legs appear out of the hole, and gradually, a massive spider finally crawls out and reveals itself. It glares at the fighters in front of it and growls angrily. Everyone takes a few steps back, staring at the demon in horror.

"Um, is _that_ one of the Demon Commanders…?" Rena asks Lu, turning her head to the miniature girl.

Lu grins happily, unlike the others, and folds her arms.

"Oh, I could recognize this spider anywhere. It's Magmanta."

"M-Magmanta?" Chung repeats, watching anxiously as the spider roars at them again.

"Yeah. He's a real softie, not much of a threat, he's only dangerous because of his saliva."

"What's dangerous about his saliva?" Raven asks now, wiping off blood on his blade, getting ready to fight the Demon Commander.

"It's poisonous and acidic. You do _not_ want to get even a drop on you, it'll probably burn right through your skin."

Everyone turns and looks at the calm Lu, their eyes completely widened. They're both grateful that they know someone that knows what to be careful about when fighting demons, but now they don't want to get anywhere close to the massive spider. Ciel is the first to regain his composure. He grips the handles of his Gunblades confidently and sighs.

"Just keep moving and dodge the saliva at all costs, let's go!" He speaks, rushing forward and throwing multiple throwing knives to the spider's legs. The knives stab into the spider's flesh, but fail to go all the way through.

The spider growls again and attempts to crush Ciel beneath its legs, but Raven leaps into the way and blocks the stabbing leg with his blade.

Chung follows up with them, jumping into the air and hitting the spider's head with all the might he can muster. Magmanta spits at Chung but misses him as the Guardian moves swiftly across the ground, watching the drops of saliva carefully. He commands Rena to fire another barrage of arrows and tells Lu to smash the spider's eyes in hopes of blinding it.

And amidst the chaos, the armour-covered Chung pants as he sees his comrades give their all against the Demon Commander, and roars at the top of his lungs with all of his passion.

"We won't lose!"

* * *

Glave gasps weakly as he feels his pulse again.

He sits up, panting and wheezing, and looks around to see where he is.

He's back in the time-space continuum.

He shakes his head and coughs, he's probably been dead for a while, his body feels incredibly cold. He wobbles slowly as he gets to his feet, readjusting the mask against his face, and chuckles dryly as Luto appears beside him, sitting on his blue throne.

"Master," He mutters, still getting used to being alive again. "You brought me back to life."

"Of course I did,"

"You have my thanks."

"What I want from you right now are answers, Glave. Not in all of the centuries that you have served me have I seen you be defeated. Tell me, what happened?"

"You did not see yourself?"

"No," Luto admits, gripping the handle of his large key in his right hand. "My powers are becoming weaker every day, I could not see so far back. Did you go to the past?"

"Yes, Master."

"Well, why?"

Glave hesitates for a moment, thinking the situation over. Glave had originally planned to overthrow Luto by making Add the next Administrator, but that now looks like it's impossible.

Back when Raven and Add fought on an airship, Glave used his powers to make it look like Add died, when in actuality, Add was absolutely fine. Now, if he wants to explain what happened when he travelled to the past, he'd have to admit that Add is still alive. It's a risky thing to do, but Glave has already done multiple risky things at this point, he might as well keep going.

"It turns out Add is still alive, Master."

"Really?" Luto responds, doubt in his voice.

"It is true. He must have faked his death after figuring out we were watching him. He has gained time-space powers himself, you see."

"Ah," Luto mumbles, lowering his head worriedly. "That would explain it. Does his powers rival ours?"

"No, Master, not in his normal state…but…"

"But…?"

"You see…Add decided to travel back to the past to save his loved ones, but found out that his past does not exist in this Universe. He went mad and changed."

"Changed?" Luto repeats again for Glave to explain further.

"He changed shape and form, looking like one of the demons in my visions, and attacked me with unbelievable power. I…could not beat him."

"You couldn't defeat Add once he changed? Is that how powerful he is?"

"Master, make no mistake, I think that he was so strong that destroying the world itself will not be a challenge for him."

Luto remains silent for a while, frowning and taking all of this in. He still finds it hard to believe that an ordinary human such as Add can rival their powers, but he eventually nods his head.

"He must be eliminated. He is too dangerous."

"I agree, Master, but I do not think I can personally defeat him by myself. Perhaps you can kill him?"

"Me? Dear El, no. I've gotten weak with age now, I do not stand a chance against a formidable foe any longer."

"Then…what shall we do?"

"You will defeat him, Glave, I know you will. You might not be able to do it in your current state, so we'll have to go with the last resort."

"Last resort…?" Glave mutters back with widened eyes, he cannot believe what his Master is saying.

"That's right, I'm removing your chains and mask. You won't be able to properly control your time-space powers in that state, but you'll be far more powerful than normal, correct?"

"Yes, Master, but…you haven't taken the mask and chains off of me for centuries, are you sure?"

"I am. There is no other choice."

Glave slowly begins to grin behind his black mask. Ever since he first put on the mask, he hasn't been able to take it off unless Luto uses his powers to do so. He cannot even recall the last time he took his mask and chains off, but the notion is very welcome. He cackles happily and nods to Luto.

"Very well, let's do this, Master."

* * *

While not as many as the outside of Hamel's walls, a large group of demons have already made their way into the Capital.

Eve watches as Aisha places some Hamel armour on and rushes out of the tent, her staff in her hand and her will to fight burning within her heart.

Eve does not possess that will.

She knows that there are more important things going on, she knows that Hamel is now at war and in danger of being destroyed, but no matter how hard she tries, she cannot make herself care enough.

It doesn't matter to her if Hamel falls or not, it doesn't matter to her if soldiers die today, her heart just isn't connected with the war.

Her worries for Add and where he might be are still present and she cannot get them to go away.

She wanders over to the mirror in the tent and stares into it. She can hear the faint screams of pain and determination outside, but it doesn't bother her. Looking into the mirror, she sees small tears roll down the sides of her face.

There's another war going on.

And it's going on within her heart.

Eve slowly shakes her head and snaps out of it. Even if she does not care for the war, she's still a part of it and has to watch out for her comrades.

She snaps her fingers, summoning both Moby and Remy beside her, and strides out, her white dress flowing through the harsh winds.

A group of around thirty demons are heading start towards her, and she sees Aisha standing still, charging up magic. She glances at Eve and sighs.

"About time you got here, the demons are coming this way. Keep them off of me until I have enough magic!" Aisha speaks before closing her eyes to concentrate.

"Understood." Eve mutters, walking right towards the group of demons.

Being only thirty demons that have gotten into Hamel's walls, Eve knows that Chung and the others must be doing a good job at the front lines. The Prince isn't only out there fighting for morale support, he's a true warrior.

Eve holds her left hand out and charges up a lazer, the particles sparkling around her frantically.

But before she can fire the lazer, a bright purple light flashes in front of her and a figure drops to the ground, the floor cracked weakly under the figure's feet.

Eve gasps, standing back, as the figure walks out of the smoke and reveals himself.

A boy with white hair, tall and skinny, glances at her and gives a kind smile.

"Hey, Eve, did you seriously start the fight without me?" Add chuckles with a calm expression on his face. His body is covered in black armour from head-to-toe, but she can easily recognize the white-haired man.

"Add!" She cheers out.

"Just give me a second." Add speaks, his voice a lot softer than usual, and he cracks his knuckles as the group of demons descend upon him. "This won't take long."

Add smashes the ground with his fist and multiple explosions immediately emit out of it, vaporizing half of the group of demons in an instant. Eve watches in awe as Add accelerates his electrical power and fires blast after blast of raw energy, purple electricity sparking around him as he does so. Add flies over to the rest of the demons and activates the Nasod Armour, pummelling the creatures with his fists.

"Quicksilver Accel, Dust Anatomy, Psychic Storm!" He shouts as he summons more electrical power around himself.

He dashes forwards with his right palm in front of him, gathering plasma energy into it and punching it against the demons, the creatures shriek in agony but Add isn't done yet. He holds out his arms and commands that the Nasod Dynamos collect more energy. It circles around Add, causing several currents to pass around him, electrocuted his nearby enemies, and finishes it off by materializing a storm around him, completely made out of plasma.

Once the storm clears up, there's nothing left around Add but body parts. He steps out of the green pool of blood and smiles at Eve and Aisha, who weren't even needed to clear out the demons in Hamel.

"Sorry," He chuckles, wiping off some green blood that's oozing off his left glove. "Maybe I should have left some for you two."

Eve doesn't even bother to say anything. She simply leaps forward and wraps her arms around him. It feels uncomfortable to hug Add while he has such a heavy suit of armour on, but Eve doesn't care in the slightest and holds the hug for as long as she can.

Add's eyes instinctively widen and he steps backwards, his face blushing.

"W-What's that all about?"

"Apologizes." Eve says back, wiping away a fresh tear on her cheek. "I'm just relieved to see you again."

"Yeah," Aisha concurs, putting her staff away and placing her hands on her hips. "The entire team has been worried about you."

"Where did you go, Add?" Eve asks, a concerned expression now on her. Add hesitates and his smile fades.

"It's…not important. I just…needed some space for a while."

Eve remains silent for a moment, squinting her eyes to judge him carefully.

"You disappeared without a trace for at least a week, and it was all because you needed space?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Add mutters while rubbing the back of his head.

"You look different, Add. Something happened."

Add remembers now, he's still wearing the armour he gained when changing into Esper. He glares at the suit of armour, it doesn't seem like it can just be taken off. He grumbles and shakes his head.

"We're in the middle of a war, Eve, we can talk about that later."

"He's right." Aisha nods. "Now that we're done here, we should go to where Ara is and help her take care of the wounded soldiers. We should be launching the surprise attack soon."

"What? Ara? Wounded soldiers? Surprise attack? I'm sorry, did I miss something?"

"You missed a lot of things." Eve retorted in annoyance. Aisha giggles and shake her head.

"Don't worry, we'll explain on the way. To put it in a nutshell, however, Elsword is going to be our trump card against the Demon Army once they break through Hamel's defences."

"…That red-haired brat is our only hope of winning this war?"

"Yes,"

"Dear El," Add grumbles, lowering his head. "We're all going to die."

Both Aisha and Eve giggled at his response and started moving. Eve hovered quickly through the air and Aisha ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Add leaps onto his Nasod Dynamos and flies closely behind them, watching the explosions in the distance.

He begins frowning as he flies on top of the Nasod Dynamos, he's still having trouble pretending like everything is alright. After going back to the past and finding out that he can never save his family, he simply feels…empty inside.

Nothing really fazes him and all of his smiles are fake. He cannot even feel the thrill of a battle anymore, he feels as empty as a soulless puppet.

But when his sclera goes black, when limitless amount of energy flows through him, when he becomes Esper, he feels everything again.

He is capable of doing anything when in that state, and the thrill of the battle is present in his heart once more. He can destroy anything in an instant, or toy with even people like Glave.

He wants to feel that way again. Even if that side of him is a monster, he wants to feel something again. He wants to deny it, but deep down within his heart, he wants to become Esper again.

And as he flies alongside his friends, staring at them with a blank expression on his face, a familiar whisper laughs in his mind.

_Soon._


	76. No 62: The War For Hamel (2 out of 4)

**Hello all, sorry for the wait, but I'm back and I've got another chapter! C:**

**Special thanks to allelia, Anime watcher524, ChillingLord, rasjanlo13, and Yumira88 for following/favouring this story! Thank you SO much for sticking with me through this, I truly hope I do not disappoint. You're the absolute best, please keep being awesome!**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

Ara has never seen so many injured soldiers before in her life, and she's faltering.

Her job is to heal any soldier that needs help, but the sheer amount of the people needing healing is beginning to overwhelm her.

Her hair is white and glowing, with her eyes becoming a piercing red colour. Eun has taken over her body, but Ara can still see everything that is going on. She's using Eun's powers to patch up and heal anyone close to her, but more bloody soldiers keep walking up to the gates and collapse in front of her feet.

The sight of men and woman covered in their own blood, crawling desperately to receive her healing powers gives a sickening feeling in Ara's stomach. She thought she was ready for something like this, she wasn't.

She swings her hands elegantly around, watching as torn-up wounds close up and repair its flesh. Things such as cuts and twisted joints are not that much of a challenge for Eun's powers, but broken bones deem a larger threat and she finds herself struggling to heal them.

Then, in the corner of her eye, three people approach and draw their weapons. Ara momentarily turns around to see who it is.

It's Add, Eve, and Aisha.

Before Ara can say anything, Aisha immediately raises her staff to the sky and summons large bolts of lightning, clearing out the small packs of demons around them. Ara hadn't even noticed the incoming demons, but she was relieved at the same time.

"You're here!"

"Yes, we've come to assist you." Eve speaks over the pained screams of soldiers in the distance.

"But…weren't you assigned to the centre of Hamel? What are you doing here at the front gates?"

"I did their job for them, it didn't take too long." Add explains, avoiding eye contact with Ara and everyone else. He stares at the bloody soldiers still in need of healing.

He watches Ara hold her hands out and allow yellow energy to pour out of them, healing the soldiers around her. She seems exhausted already. Add observes the healing process and sees just how slow it is. It takes far too much time and he imagines how much the soldiers must be suffering before their wounds fully heal up.

Suddenly, a thought rushed through Add's mind.

As Esper, he possessed the power to heal himself up in an instant. He somehow brought himself back from the dead with his healing abilities.

He stares at the injured soldiers, just barely hanging on, hoping that Ara will heal them in time. He could save them all, he could bring them back to full strength with a simple snap of his fingers.

But he can't. If he lets himself become Esper again, there's no telling what he would do to his friends.

"Add? Can you hear me? Snap out of it!" Aisha huffs at him, and Add immediately leaves his troubled thoughts and turns around to look at her. "Seriously, this is no time to be daydreaming!"

"Huh? Oh right, yeah." Add mumbles back, leaving his troubling thoughts. He glanced around and saw more demons approaching in the distance.

"There's more of them coming this way. I'm reading around seventy signatures from that group." Eve informs them, Moby and Remy circling around her, ready to battle.

Ara stares at the incoming group of demons and gasps. That's a far larger group coming their way, and she can feel Eun's energy finally finishing. At this rate, the demons will be upon them before she'll be able to heal every wounded soldier.

She sighed.

There was no other choice. She would have to use her family's secret technique.

She stabs her golden spear into the ground and allows dark shadows to be released from within it. Add, Aisha and Eve step back, startled by the strange energy. The shadows spin frantically around, expanding until Ara's body is completely consumed by it, and her comrades momentarily lose sight of her. The darkness curls around her skin, giving her a prickling, stinging sensation, and she closes her eyes as the transformation runs its course.

When it's finally over, the shadows disperse and Ara steps out of the darkness to reveal herself. Her hair is longer and isn't in a ponytail anymore, and her clothing is mostly black and brown. The clothing around her legs are spread out and reveals a lot of her skin, giving it a rather seductive look.

The look in her eyes is different as well. They're calm now, relaxed and confident. She flips her black hair to the right side of her face and smiles gently at her friends. **[Yama Raja]**

"Don't be alarmed, I just used one of my family's old techniques. It will boost my energy." She explains as she waves her left hand outwards.

Immediately, her hair flows white again and the soldiers around her resume their healing. Whatever Ara just did, her friends realized that this will be a big help.

"Very well. Add and I shall eliminate the group of demons approaching, Aisha, stay beside Ara and make sure no harm comes to her." Eve begins commanding, and Aisha quickly nods back.

Eve lungs forward to the demons and immediately starts attacking, commanding Oberon to slash away and cut through any enemies that start getting too close to her, while Moby and Remy constantly headbutt themselves against the demons.

Add leaps onto his Nasod Dynamos and does the same, raining down purple projectiles towards the demons below. He watches as electrical currents tear them apart, and how the Nasod Armour rips through their flesh with just a few hits.

He snaps his fingers and watches as multiple drones hover beside him and cover Eve with different coloured sparks of attacks. Lowering his head, he notices that he isn't smiling. Almost every time he's been in a battle so far, he's enjoyed every moment of it and always had a large grin on his face, but not anymore. The empty feeling in his heart is still present and it's refusing to leave. He cannot even find enjoyment in fighting now.

_I can help you with that._

Add flinches as he hears that voice, it's _his _voice.

Ever since his first transformation into Esper, he's been hearing that voice in his head, no matter how distracted he is.

Add shakes his head and tries to block the voice out. He sweeps downwards as Eve sends out blue shockwaves to stun the demons, and Add tears their heads off with the grip of his right hand. He grunts as he attempts to use his time-space powers, nothing happens.

_Of course nothing will happen. You can only use your new time-space powers when I'm in control, did you forget?_

Add mutters something to himself and ignores the voice again, it doesn't matter in the least. The Nasod Armour and the new drones he has installed will be more than efficient to kill these demons.

He lands back to the ground and punches a demon approaching Eve from behind, watching as the dark creature explodes into tiny green chunks in an instant. He has a blank expression on his face as the demon blows up and gushes out blood all over his body, he needs to ignite the thrill of a fight again, but none of these creatures are able to do anything for him.

_Do you know why you seek the thrill of a fight? You're trying to distract yourself from the awful truth you've learnt, isn't that it? Well, let me out and I'll be sure to give you what you want._

Add recoils backwards as one of the demons slashes its long claws at him, but the claws fail to cut through Add's new black armour, and he doesn't even blink as he kicks an electric pulse towards the demon to end it.

Eve stands beside him, summoning multiple different Nasods to appear for a few moments, tear some demons apart, and then disappear again. It all seems rather disorienting to Add, but Eve looks like she's in complete control, and as a larger demon leaps from the sky to bite down on her, she fires a singular lazer that pierces through its skull and kills it. She doesn't seem in the least bit tired as she crushes whatever creature gets close to her, either shooting pulses at it or watching as one of her servants do the job for her.

_Heh, I always liked Eve, you know? A curious one, that Nasod. I could never understand her…or it, I suppose. Is Eve a 'her' or an 'it', by the way? That's something else I never understood. Still, she's incredibly entertaining._

"Shut up, Esper." Add finally responds as he sends two demons across the ground with a Nasod Armour-powered kick, speaking in a whisper so that Eve won't hear him talking to himself.

_So you finally decide to speak up, huh? _

"Get out of my head." He growls angrily as he materializes two more drones and watches as they tear apart the last few demons left.

_And just how do I do that? I'm not a monster living in your head, Add. I'm you. You can't keep denying my existence in this messed up head of yours._

The last of the demons are now dead and Eve finally begins to pant tiredly, though Add simply remains still and folds his arms. He watches as Ara desperately heals up the remaining soldiers and sighs, she cares so much about those men and women even though she doesn't know them at all.

_But you don't care, do you?_

"Just stop talking, you're giving me a headache." Add hisses as the Nasod Armour dematerializes off of his body.

Eve turns around to look at him and shoots Add a look, both annoyed and confused.

"I didn't say anything," She hisses back to him, and Add realizes that he had talked too loudly. He waves his hands and shakes his head.

"N-No, I didn't mean you."

"Then who _did_ you mean?"

Add faced the other way and walked slowly back to Ara and Aisha, cursing at himself for being so stupid.

"Nothing."

Eve raises an eyebrow but decides not to pry. She follows Add and reaches her friends again.

Ara's face is a little sweaty, but her new transformation has helped the situation significantly and the last of the soldiers get up, grab their weapons, and head back to battle.

"There," Ara mutters, wiping the sweat off of her forehead gently. "They can go back to fighting now."

"They'll get themselves injured again, Ara. You can expect patients again real soon, sit down and catch your breath." Aisha says.

Ara nods slowly and does as she says, sitting down and panting heavily.

Eve observes as Aisha makes her staff float before sitting on it and as Add turns around and stares out to the war in the distance.

Something has been bothering her ever since Add first appeared. Earlier, Eve would always notice how much Add would stare at her, constantly keeping an eye on her, but things aren't the same now. Add isn't looking at her in the eyes at all, even when they're talking. And it's not just her, she hasn't seen Add look properly at anyone properly either. Add's sudden disappearance was worrying enough, but for some reason, she's even more worried now that he's back due to his strange behaviour.

Eve looks at Add and doesn't turn away from him. He's a lot taller, he constantly has a black suit of armour on, and he won't act normally around anyone. These things need to be investigating further, Eve is sure of that. She folds her arms and wonders just what might have happened during the time he had left the Elgang.

Then her body goes cold and she becomes rigid with fear. As she was looking carefully at Add, he turned around for a moment and looked back at her.

And in those few seconds, even though Eve could have just been seeing things, even thought Add immediately blinked again and showed his normal eyes, she swore she saw him for a moment glaring at her with different-looking eyes.

With black scleras.

* * *

Ran can feel the vibrations emitting around him, he lowers his head and sighs, the war is still raging on.

He's rested on his purple throne, his head leaning against his hand. After hearing how troublesome the people of Hamel were being, he had sent all of his Demon Commanders to tear the kingdom down, but apparently, they still hadn't won.

A redheaded Succubus stands beside him, a sharp scythe gripped tightly in her left hand, Karis. Ever since Ran had become Overlord of the entire demon race, she has been by his side, trying her best to give him whatever he desires. He glances at her and frowns.

"How is our army faring?" He asks her in a deep voice.

Karis hesitates before responding.

"Not so well, your Highness. Around forty percent of our army has already been defeated, and the Demon Commanders have not reached the walls of Hamel yet."

"This is not how the war should be going. The last I heard, Hamel was in ruin and their army was almost dispersed. I demand an explanation, Karis."

"They have received more allies."

"Allies? What allies?"

"See for yourself."

Karis then picks up a dark crystal ball, glowing radiantly in dark energy, and she hands it into Ran's hands. Ran holds the ball for a moment, remarking of how heavy it is, and watches as it comes to life.

A miniature cloud of darkness covers the crystal ball for a few seconds before bringing the ball to life. The reflection of the ball projects the current affairs of the war. Ran stares silently at the reflection and observes as a short, blonde-haired child covered in armour destroys any demons in his path, Ran's frown becomes darker as he recognizes the boy.

"He looks familiar, a lot like the Colossus."

"Yes, that boy is the Colossus' only son, Prince Chung."

Ran tosses the crystal ball away in annoyance and grunts as he folds his arms.

"So the Prince of Hamel is back?"

"Indeed, and he has many powerful fighters working beside him. Magmanta is struggling to defeat them."

"I see. Well, the solution is simple, send out the Colossus. He's under our control and is faithful to our race, he will kill them quickly."

"I'm not sure you want to do that."

Ran turns his head and faces Karis, seeing her uncertain and worried expression.

"Why?" He mutters with irritation.

"Because the Colossus is quite…unstable. The last time we used him to destroy Hamel, he went completely wild and almost killed us too."

Ran considers the options for a while. On one side, Karis does have a point, but at the same time, they desperately need to take Hamel down. That kingdom has been in their way for far too long, and their army needs to claim as much ground as they can if they wish to wipe humans out of existence.

Ever since Ran transformed into a demon himself, he's been their leader and all of the responsibility has been his. He cannot afford to show weakness now, not when they still have the upper hand. Ran looks at Karis and shakes his head.

"Release the Colossus, that's an order."

"Very well," Karis answers without hesitation, she wouldn't dare argue with the Overlord.

"Also, I shall head down to the battlefield myself. I am the Overlord, I should not just sit here and wait for the battle to be over."

"Shall I accompany you?"

"Yes, your skills in battle will be put to good use. Where should we attack?"

"Here," Karis speaks casually as she picks up the crystal ball that Ran had thrown in frustration and holds it in front of him. "This woman has been giving us a lot of trouble by healing the troops, she should be eliminated."

Ran stares at the reflection in the crystal ball and recognizes the girl being shown. It's Ara.

His eyes widen and he leans back in his throne, unable to take his eyes off of the reflection. Ara was his little sister back when Ran was a human, and somehow, she's still alive. She looks taller and older in the crystal ball's reflection, but Ran could still make out who she was. He grunts, he thought he had disposed of her but it seems like he'll have to do it again.

Karis notices Ran's angry and raises an eyebrow.

"Is there something wrong?"

"That girl is someone I knew back in my human life. I thought I killed her back at her village."

"I see. Should I be the one to kill her then?"

"No, I want to be the one who does it. I must finish what I have started."

"Of course."

"However, knowing her, she's most likely a lot stronger than she was last time. I'll need to go all out."

"You don't mean-?"

Ran lifts himself up and gets out of his throne. He waves his right hand into the air and summons a large gem above him. The gem is black and glimmers in a dark glow.

It's the Dark El.

The moment he summons the Dark El above him, he can feel his entire body being filled with absolute power. It's a wonderful sensation and Ran knows that nothing will stand in his way if he uses its energy. He hovers beside Karis and nods.

"I shall use the Dark El's power to finish this war quickly."

"Are you sure you need to? The Dark El's energy is corruptible, you'll be putting yourself in danger."

Ran knows exactly what Karis is talking about. The Dark El has taken over many demons and humans in the past, and using its power can easily tear away your sanity. Even though right now he's not using its energy yet, simply being close to it he can feel the Dark El's possessive grip.

He can hear little whispers in his head, telling him to embrace the Dark El and allow himself to become its next host. That's what the Dark El wants, it wants something to latch onto and use as a host until that being goes insane and becomes useless to it.

But he is resilient and the voices do not remain in his head for long.

"I will not allow a simple gem to take over me, you needn't worry about my mental strength."

"Okay then, let's move out."

Ran nods and points his right hand outwards, concentrating on his teleportation abilities. Karis places her hand on his shoulder and in an eyeblink, they appear at Hamel's gates.

The exhaustion of teleporting so far makes Ran pant a few times, but now that he's here, he can see Ara with his own eyes.

Ara looks above and stares at the two flying figures and her friends stand close beside her. Aisha is the first one to recognize their demonic energy and pull her staff out.

"Who are they? More demons?" Aisha asks her friends, Ara remains frozen for a while, blinking to make sure she isn't seeing things.

"A-Aren?"

Ran frowns as he hears that name, he hasn't been addressed by that name in many years now, and the sound is just as annoying as it was back then. He wants to dispose of Ara quickly, just seeing her is reminding him of the past he wants to put behind.

Karis lungs downwards and swings her scythe at Ara, but Eve stands in the way and summons Oberon to block the attack, which it does. Ara stands back, unable to clutch her staff, and watches as her friends fight for her.

Eve points her index finger at Karis and fires a particle shot, having a serious look on her face.

"You will not harm my comrade."

The shot blazes through the air but just barely misses Karis as the Succubus flies swiftly at her. Karis slashes a few times at Eve but Oberon takes all of the hits for its Queen, and Aisha fires multiple fireballs at Karis while she's distracted. Some of their hits land on Karis, but she shrugs them off like they're nothing and continues to persist.

Add cracks his knuckles and decides to go for Ran while the others fight Karis. He leaps into his Dynamos and flies up to where the dark-skinned man is, and they begin staring at each other. Add recognizes the massive gem behind Ran, the Dark El, but he slowly starts to back away. He must be careful around that artefact, he doesn't know just how powerful it is.

"You're someone that Ara knows?" Add asks, collecting electrical energy behind himself.

"That is none of your concern. You are a human, which means you must die just like the rest."

"You seriously think you can wipe out an entire race?"

Ran doesn't bother answering, he flies forward and tosses Add into the ground, and a miniature explosion occurs when Add meets the floor. He coughs and watches as Ran lands down next to him to initiate another attack. Add struggles to his feet and covers himself with the Nasod Armour.

If only he had his time-space powers right now.

Ran punches Add in the face and Add coils backwards, but stays on his feet thanks to the Nasod Armour. He gives a punch right back to Ran, but Ran doesn't react the slightest to his attack. Add grunts, this is going to be more difficult than he thought. He hits Ran with a flurry of right hooks, powered by the Nasod Armour, but that doesn't faze him either. He grabs Add by the neck and hammers him against the ground over and over again.

_Wow, you're really getting your butt kicked._

Add growls as pain begins to seep in. He kicks Ran away but the Overlord comes right back for him. Add summons multiple drones to fire down lazers at Ran, but with a simple snap of Ran's fingers, the drones are destroyed the moment they materialize in the sky. Add takes a few steps back, watching the Dark El glow ominously behind Ran, and he understands that he has no chance against such power.

_Of course you don't. This Ran guy isn't that tough on his own, but with the Dark El constantly giving him power, he's unstoppable. Still, if I were to fight him, it would be a piece of cake._

Add ignores Esper's entertained voice and rushes towards Ran, hitting him with a variety of attacks in the span of a single second.

"Quicksilver Accel, Shooting Chaser, Starfall!" He shrieks at the top of his lungs.

He gathers electrical energy into his right palm and forces it into Ran's chest, then summons more drones to his side and tosses it, and ends his attacks by summoning a large electrical current from above, sparking and shooting down at Ran and the Dark El. Add leaps backwards and hopes to see the results of his attacks.

But when the dust settles, Ran is still in one piece, and he hasn't moved an inch. Ran is like an indestructible statue to Add, and when Ran decides to attack with his own consecutive attacks, Add's blood spills everywhere. He gasps and wheezes weakly as each single attack sends a wave of unbearable pain throughout his entire body. He attempts to stop the combo by sending out a shockwave from the Nasod Armour, but the shockwave does nothing. Ran drives his right knee into Add's nose and watches as Add is tossed uselessly across the ground like a ragdoll.

_That must be embarrassing._

Add can barely hear Esper's comments now as he crawls weakly on the floor. He slowly turns his head to Aisha and Eve and watch as they also drop to the ground, they cannot beat Karis either. Ara simply stands still and does not fight back as Karis slashes her with her scythe. Everyone is now down on the floor, at Ran's and Karis' mercy.

_They're going to kill you, Add. They're going to kill everyone._

He can't listen to the voice, no matter what the situation is. Even if it feels good being Esper, he cannot give in to the other side of him. He knows that if Esper takes control again, just like Glave said, Esper will destroy reality itself. And that means…

_That means I'll kill your friends too? Oh come on, they're not really your friends. Just let me out and let's destroy this cruel reality. _

Add shakes his head, refusing to give up. He won't allow himself to become Esper, not ever again.

"It's time to end this." Ran says in a bored fashion. He stares at the fallen fighters before him for a few moments before drawing energy from the Dark El.

A giant ball of black energy gathers up within Ran's hand and it expands until it covers up most of Add's view of the sky. Add watches sadly and helplessly as the ball is released from Ran's hand and hurdled towards them. He cannot move even his fingers anymore, let alone get up and help his friends. He stares blankly as the ball of energy crashes down on all of them and destroys anything around them in an instant.

"Oh hell," was all that Add could mutter to himself before he exploded into fifty different pieces.


	77. No 62: The War For Hamel (3 out of 4)

**Hello, here's the next chapter!**

**Special thanks to Samjok-o for following this story! You rock, bro! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

Chung sighs as Magmanta finally drops to his feet.

It had taken far longer than anyone had been expecting, but they had finally defeated the demonic spider. Its legs failed to balance its large frame any longer and it crashed weakly into the ground. It isn't dead, but Chung decides that it won't cause them trouble anymore, so he simply walks away.

His teammates are bleeding and bruised, but they have relieved smiles on their faces, and Rena claps her hands together.

"Great work, everyone!"

"Don't drop your guard yet, there's going to be another wave of them coming soon." Raven notes, however, as he holds his Nasod Arm with his human hand. It had begun pulsing again, giving him unbearable pain.

Chung understands what Raven is saying and doesn't exit his Freiturnier armour just yet. He senses the Guardian Stone in the middle of his chest plate, it can sustain Chung's armour for around another five minutes. His body already feels strained after using the armour for so long, but he holds on as he knows that he needs to use every ounce of energy he has.

Ciel is panting beside him but Lu looks relaxed and energetic, giggling as she sees her servant gasping for air.

"Geez, Ciel, you really need to work out more!" She huffs to him, and Ciel shoots her a look.

"I've been running around at blinding speeds for around ten minutes now, I think that would tire anyone."

"Pfft, excuses!"

Ciel has a Gunblade in his left hand and several throwing daggers in his right. His white hair flows through the wind as he turns his head around, searching for the next wave of demons that are supposed to attack. He doesn't find them.

"When are the demons going to attack again? There's nothing around us for a couple of miles." He asks the team, a raised eyebrow present on his face.

Raven looks around in a similar fashion to Ciel and also begins to frown, seeing no more demons circling around them.

"You're right, the next wave of the creatures should be upon us by now."

"Perhaps we've beaten them all?" Rena suggests, slowly strapping her bow behind her back.

"No chance. Our race is even larger than the amount of humans in this world. There's no way we've killed them all."

"They must have moved their attack plan to somewhere else." Ciel says, looking as though he's in deep thought.

"Or they've retreated?" Chung says behind the Freiturnier's helmet.

Lu shakes her head in disagreement and heaves a heavy sigh.

"Don't bet on it, the demons have become mindless creatures that just rush in and attack anything. They can't make up a plan without someone telling them to-" Lu begins to explain, but pauses as her blue eyes suddenly widen.

"What is it, Lu?" Ciel asks.

"…The Overlord must have joined the battle." She whispers, staring blankly at the rest of the team.

On cue, the sky begins to be coloured black as a being steps out of a demonic portal. It's woman with red hair and black wings, giggling as she hovered above them.

Ciel and Lu both gasp at the exact same time. Neither of them were expecting to ever meet this demon again, but it seems that the time for their rematch has come. Karis has come once again to kill them both.

"Oh my," Karis laughs as her eyes skim across Lu and Ciel, not bothering to look at the others. "You two look so different since the last time we clashed."

"And you look exactly the damn same." Ciel hisses, pulling both of his Gunblades out and pointing them threateningly at her.

"I hope you're not going to run, you fool!" Lu growls, summoning her demonic claws over her small hands.

Karis stares at them both, completely unafraid and relaxed. She holds out her black scythe, the same one she had used to kill Ciel during their last battle, and she swoops down upon the both of them, ready to attack.

"Hehe! Let's just see how strong you two have become after all this time!" She giggles, attacking Ciel first.

Ciel blocks the slashing scythe with his right Gunblade and stares to the team behind him. Chung is already pulling out his Destroyer and Raven looks ready to lung forward and help.

But that's the very last thing that Ciel wants.

"Don't attack her, we're going to take care of this!" Ciel shouts to everyone behind him, pushing Karis away by kicking her.

"But-!" Chung begins to protest.

"The demons aren't here anymore, they've moved their attack directly to Hamel's walls, you need to go _now!_" He screams to Chung and the others, fire flaring in his eyes.

Chung, Raven and Rena all show signs of hesitation, but hearing how desperately Ciel has asked this of them, they nod understandingly and retreat away. They know that Ciel and Lu need assistance, but Hamel's safety comes before anything else.

Ciel smiles for a moment as he sees the team listen to him, but then growls in agony as Karis slashes at him again and cuts a deep wound in his right arm. Lu punches Karis away from Ciel and follows it up with an upper cut, giving Ciel just enough time to leap into the air and smash Karis right back into the ground.

"This won't be like last time, Lu and I shall not lose." Ciel whispers to Karis as he fires multiple shots from his Gunblades.

"Stomp!" Lu shrieks as she leaps forward, in front of Ciel, and punches Karis with both of her claws.

"That…sort of hurt…" Karis admits happily, enjoying every moment of this. She snaps her fingers and sends waves of bats towards Lu and Ciel, giggling as the swarm descends upon them.

"Soul Extortion, Demonic Breath!" Ciel roars as he summons his blue blaster in his right hand and leaps forward.

The blue blaster fires out an absorbing shot that steals a small portion of Karis' energy, and then Ciel uses that stolen energy to materialize a massive wave of black fire to drop down on the Succubus. Karis hisses at the stinging sensation and attempts to kill Ciel right then and there with another wave of bats.

But Ciel quickly backflips out of the way and Lu jumps into his place, cutting down at Karis mercilessly with her large claws.

"Spectral Spear, Shadow Bolt, Ruinous Impact!" She shouts as she smashes Karis into a rock and proceeds with a stringed attack.

Lu holds out her small hand and summons two spears to slice into Karis' stomach and send her backwards. After Karis finds her balance again, Lu immediately follows it up with multiple spears shooting down from the sky and exploding on impact with Karis. Karis screeches and lungs forward, swinging her scythe left and right, but Lu dodges them and sends a large, demonic claw forward to clash into her.

Karis shakes off most of the attacks, though some bruises appear around her body, and sends several red lazers to shred Lu into nothingness. However, Ciel quickly steps in and blocks the lazers with his Gunblades, only for Lu to leap into the sky and punch Karis back down to the floor.

The Succubus hadn't expected Lu and Ciel to put up such a fight, but they were persistent and far more powerful than before. They moved together with incredible coordination, attacking swiftly after one another in perfect synchronization. The two of them have definitely changed since their last battle, Karis is certain of that, but she won't allow herself to lose to them this time either. She snaps her fingers again and summons more dark waves from the sky, hoping at least one of them will crash into either Lu and Ciel and end this quickly.

While Lu cannot move fast enough to dodge the waves, Ciel is able to. He grabs Lu by the waist and dashes around the battlefield, swiftly moving past every wave without trouble. He drops Lu gently back to her own feet and she giggles before lunging towards Karis and attempting to punch her again.

Karis, being completely tired of being punched, blocks Lu's claws with her scythe and takes a few steps backwards. With Lu's raw strength and Ciel's ridiculous speed, the Succubus is having trouble finding their weakness, for it doesn't seem like they have one.

Ciel swings his Gunblades twice and watches as Lu jumps in front of him and continues the attack by slashing away with her claws. These attacks by themselves shouldn't normally hurt Karis, but the pain is gradually starting to stack up on each other and is beginning to irritate her. If only she had the Dark El right now, she would eliminate these two fighters in an instant.

"Why?" Lu asks quietly, hatred seething through her voice as she punches Karis in the left side of the face and watches as Ciel kicks the Succubus' stomach. "Why did you do it?"

"Why did I do what?" Karis asks back, grunting as the pain in her stomach bothers her. She slashes at Lu but gets blocked by Ciel as he leaps in front of Lu and holds his Gunblades out.

"Why did you stop me from becoming Overlord?"

Ciel pants as he steps back and stares at Karis.

Karis is no longer fighting. She's not flying either. She's standing in front of Lu and Ciel, glaring at both of them and tracing her free hand over the cuts on her skin. Her confident smile is finally gone and she simply stares at her opponents with a blank expression. Eventually, she decides to answer Lu's question.

"Because you were weak, and you're just as weak now. I found someone far stronger and more willing than you, but I knew that you were stubborn. You wouldn't give up your chance to become Overlord no matter what, so I knew that you had to die."

Lu pauses and stares back at Karis, her massive claws disappearing and her demonic energy dispersing. Lu looks just like a normal child again, looking at Karis with both regret and sorrow.

"I've changed since then," Lu whispers with tears forming around the edges of her eyes. Ciel stands silently beside her, his Gunblades still ready in his hands.

"No, you haven't. Right now we're in the middle of a war and the true Overlord of the demons is out there fighting. Admit it, Luciela. If you encounter that Overlord, you're going to try to kill him and claim the title you've always wanted, right?"

"I…" Lu starts but trails off, blinking away more tears on her face.

"You might look different, you might have this human fighting for you." Karis mutters quietly as she points to Ciel. "But within, your heart hasn't changed at all. You still want that title, and you're willing to do anything to obtain it."

Lu stops talking and lowers her head. Ciel looks down at her and says nothing, unsure of what exactly is going through her mind. He himself believes that Lu has changed since those days, that she's no longer a tyrant that is willing to destroy anything in her way as long as she gets what she desires. Surely, Lu has changed. She's better than that. She's more than that.

Right?

"Ciel." Lu hisses, taking a few steps towards the weakened Karis.

"Yes, Lu?"

What she said next, however, was something that he never expected Lu to say.

"Kill her."

"Lu…I-!"

Lu turns her head to Ciel, glaring at him with red eyes. It's no longer the innocent, bright blue eyes that Ciel has been used to. No, these are as red as blood and she displays no other emotion on her face.

"Do. It. _Now."_

"Lu…"

"I am your master, you will do as I command."

Ciel remains silent for a few moments, his mind wandering back to the time when Lu had brought him back from the dead. He made a contract then, to obey her every command and ensure that she becomes Overlord. It doesn't matter how Ciel feels about Lu being a ruler, or about his own personal morals. What Lu tells him is law.

Nothing is said as Ciel steps forward slowly and cuts Karis' legs off in an instant with his left Gunblade.

Karis shrieks in agony, blood bursting out of the area where her legs should be, and Ciel lowers his head. He listens to the screams ringing in his ears but he says nothing. He is a servant. This is his duty.

Ciel places the barrel of his other Gunblade on Karis' temple, watching her whisper and beg, telling him just how much she doesn't want to die. If Chung and the others were seeing this, they would be absolutely disgusted by Ciel's actions.

But Ciel did not hesitate as he pulled the trigger and watched as the insides of Karis' head exploded in every direction, with some of the chunks getting onto Ciel's shirt.

The blood-stained assassin turns to Lu, crimson liquid dripping off of his clothes, and he lowers his head in shame.

"Your wish is my command, Master." He says as he takes a bow for the red-eyed Lu, but there is no warmth in his words like there usually is.

His words now sound as cold as ice.

* * *

"We can't just sit here!" Elsword protests, his fists smacking against the table he's sitting behind.

Elsword, Elesis and Draco are positioned inside of a small hut, with the red-haired siblings sitting down at a wooden table. Draco, standing up and placing blue, traditional Hamel armour on, sighs at Elsword's frustration and shakes his head.

"I told you already, the plan doesn't change. You and Elesis are the surprise attack when the leader of the demons makes his way into Hamel's walls." He groans back, attempting to squeeze on a Hamel soldier's helmet.

"He's right, Elsword. Just calm down." Elesis says as she holds her little brother's right hand gently, looking directly at him.

Elsword grits his teeth and pulls away his hand from Elesis, rage bubbling up inside him.

"I can't just stay here while my friends are out there fighting, it's not right!"

Draco gives up on putting on the Hamel helmet, it's far too small for his head. He tosses it aside and sighs, not having any more energy to deal with the hot-headed kid. He waves his hand dismissively and leaves the tent, heading to the fight.

"Elesis, talk some sense into your brother. I'm going to kill any stragglers that might have made their way here." He mutters as he summons his scythe, made out of complete fire, and steps outside of the tent.

Elesis turns around and looks at her brother again. She can easily the fire in his eyes, his will to fight no matter what the situation is. If she wasn't here, telling him to stay in the tent, he would have rushed into the fight with everything he had by now. She's the reason he hasn't mindlessly jumped into the battle yet.

Elsword gets out of his chair and grabs his sword, no longer able to hold himself back. He shakes his head and walks towards the exit.

"That's it, I've got to go fight!"

"Elsword, don't!" Elesis cries out, grabbing his right arm.

Elsword turns around to ask her to let go of his arm, but he pauses as he notices that his sleeve has been accidently pulled up. Elesis stares at his arm, seeing a bright red tattoo scrawled on it, and she raises an eyebrow.

"Elsword…what's this tattoo on your arm? The number two?" She whispers, staring closely at the tattoo.

Elsword's heart skips a beat and he feels a cold sensation slither up his spine when he hears that. He glances at the tattoo himself and gasps, seeing that Elesis is seeing what he's seeing.

The tattoo has counted down from three to two.

Elsword glares at the number two on his arm and realizes that the timer has officially started. When it reaches zero, it's all over for him.

"Sis, I need to tell you something important. You have to promise me that you'll understand."

Elesis stays silent for a few seconds, frowning in confusion at her little brother, but seeing his serious expression lets her know that this is an important matter. She nods her head slowly and looks back at him in the same way.

"I'll do my best."

Elsword took a deep breath.

"Look, back when we were forced into those trials of the time-space continuum, you thought that everyone made it out without a problem. But the truth is, that's not how things went."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a very long story, but I got a curse placed on me. This tattoo…is counted down my time left before I die. It used to be a three, Sis, but now it's become a two."

Elesis' eyes widen and she takes a few steps backwards, placing her hands over her mouth.

"Oh my god." She gasps, tears starting to roll uncontrollably down her face. For a second, Elsword wondered if she was going to burst out in anger or not believe him, but Elesis does neither.

She simply stands there, staring at the magical tattoo with horror.

"I…I don't know if I'll make it."

"We…have…we have to tell Penensio!" Elesis suddenly bursts out, grabbing Elsword in a grip and hugging him tightly. "He'll know what to do…he has to."

"I already talked to him, Sis, and we've got a plan. It's a long shot and might not work, but it's my only hope now."

"What is it?"

"I…have to absorb the Dark El. Not just a shard of it, either. I'm talking the whole crystal."

Elesis smacks Elsword across the face in the span of a single second, taking him by surprise. The area on his cheek starts to sting and he rubs it, and when he looks at his sister again, she's crying even harder. She's crying so hard, in fact, that she's having trouble breathing properly. She shakes her head over and over, her face in her hands.

"No, no, _no!_ _Elsword, do you even know what happens to soldiers who try to absorb even a little bit of the Dark El?!"_

Elsword is startled by Elesis' screams but he was also expecting it. She's the most protective person for him and won't allow any harm to come to him, but telling her that this is what is happening right now is devastating. Elsword lowers his head as he answers his sister.

"It's the only chance I have left, Sis. Besides, I'm strong-willed, just like you always said. Maybe…maybe I can pull through…?"

"Elsword, think about what would happen if you fail! The Dark El might tear you apart, or even worse, keep you alive to kill the rest of us. Tell me, would your friends be ready to kill you without hesitation?!"

He pauses.

"Raven." Elsword eventually mutters, rubbing his right arm. "He made me promise to kill him if the Nasod Arm takes over him. I'm sure he'll do the same for me."

"Anyone else…?"

Elsword thinks for a moment. He has to be honest with himself, he cannot imagine anyone else being strong enough to kill him face-to-face, and he knows that Raven alone might not have enough power to stop him. The plan is looking worse and worse.

"No,"

Elesis hugs Elsword again, weeping sorrowfully.

"Elsword, this is just wrong."

"What else can I do, Sis? Should I just sit around and wait for this tattoo to kill me?"

Elesis' eyes widen again and she frantically shakes her head at him.

"N-No! Of course not! I'm just…I just…" Elesis stutters, looking at the ground and then back to her little brother. She has no proper answer to offer him. "I…don't even know."

"Listen, Sis. This is something I have to do. I'll pull through, I promise. You trust me, don't you?"

"Y-Yes, but…"

"If you trust me from the bottom of your heart, let me do this."

Elesis remains silent, unable to look at Elsword anymore. The confliction in her heart is unbearable. Ever since Elsword was just a baby, she's been looking after him and been parenting him. His parents weren't there for him, but she always was. She knows that just waiting will kill Elsword without question, but allowing him to try and become one with the Dark El is also something she's terrified of.

Eventually, Elesis opens her mouth to give her answer, but is interrupted as a hole appears in the top of their tent.

A massive ball of energy hurdles into the tent without warning and almost lands on Elesis, and she stares at the ball as it sizzles on the ground. It's demonic energy. Elsword pulls his sword out and glances around carefully, not sure of what is happening. After a few more seconds of silence, another ball smashes into the tent and nearly brings the entire thing down. Elesis and Elsword both gasp, and Draco bursts into the entrance.

"Elesis, Elsword! Get your asses out of here, now!" He roars, and the two red-haired knights quickly obey and rush out of the tent.

As they step out, they see something they had not been expecting.

Whatever buildings were left in Hamel are now tumbling to the ground, and the massive walls around Hamel are cracked and have nearly collapsed. Somehow, in the span of a few minutes, almost all of Hamel's defences have been destroyed. Elesis looks at Draco and frowns.

"How did this happen?!"

Draco is bleeding and the blue armour he had put on is now cracked and smashed. His scythe isn't burning as brightly as it should be and he coughs as he responded to Elesis.

"The damn leader of the entire Demon race has showed up, that's what's happening now." He hisses in frustration, barking at a couple of soldiers that rush towards the explosions in the distance. "We don't stand a chance."

"What are you saying?" Elsword asks, colour draining slowly from his face.

"What I'm saying is Hamel is a goner, Elsword. Half of the army is dead and the rest have decided to flee."

Elsword pictures Chung's face, and how determined he looked when he said he'd save Hamel. He cannot even begin to imagine what he would do if Hamel fell to the hands of the Demons.

"This isn't happening…" He whispers.

Draco shakes his head sadly and grabs Elsword's hand.

"It is, and we have to go now if we want to live."

Draco and Elesis run together side-by-side and both hold one of Elsword's arms as they rush through the explosions happening all around Hamel. The demons have gotten into the kingdom now, and they're destroying everything until there's absolutely nothing left. He hears screams of agony echoing all around and he weeps as he knows that he's not strong enough to save any of them now.

The three of them dash to the east end of Hamel and see a small caravan in the distance with soldiers boarding it. They're all climbing in quickly so that they can get out of this falling kingdom. There are no signs of hope anymore on their faces, they just want to survive now.

But before Draco, Elesis, and the silent Elsword can reach the caravans, a black wave of darkness washes in front of them and halts them in place.

The wave of darkness expands in the sky until it reveals a man with white hair and dark skin, with demonic armour spread all around his body. He has a sword in one hand and a demonic claw over his other, in a similar fashion to Lu's claws. He stares down at the three of them, a blank expression on his face.

"The heroic Velder Knight, Elesis. The red-haired Knight of Justice, Elsword. And the commander of Hamel's soldiers, Draco." He eventually whispers, hovering swiftly in the air. "I am Ran, the Overlord of all demons. To ensure our victory, you will all die here."

And being both Elsword's only hope yet his worst nightmare, a black crystal materializes behind the hovering Ran and emits a dark shockwave that sends a shiver up everyone's spines.

Elsword realizes that he is one chance has finally showed itself.

The last chance for him to save himself from the curse on his arm, the curse that will kill him.

It has shown itself and is waiting behind Ran, sparkling ominously towards Elsword.

It's the Dark El.

* * *

_Hey, buddy._

_C'mon, can you hear me?_

_You should, I've already pulled all the parts of your brain back together._

_Listen, Add, we have to talk._

_You should have let me out, or none of this would have ever happened._

_That stubbornness of yours is seriously annoying._

_I mean, just look around you._

_Oh wait, I haven't grown new eyes for you yet, have I? Sorry, give me a second._

_Ah, there we go._

_You can see now, you're welcome. I'll repair your mouth later so you can respond to me, but first I should work on your internal organs. All you seem to have left is a single kidney._

_But look around now, there's nothing around you left. You're sitting in a crater that was once a Hamel outpost, and all your friends are dead._

_And what's even worse is that your body is in pieces. I mean, look over to your right, see what that smashed up chunk of flesh is? That's your right arm._

_Seriously, that was my favourite arm. I'll built you another one…but it won't really be the same another, you know?_

_There, most of your body is back. I'll now reattach your legs. Now then, let's see…where does this bone go? Urgh, this is so confusing. I don't know where this leg begins or where it ends. I guess it just goes over…here? Ah, there we go, it's snapped back together._

_Now then, let's build you another jaw._

_There we go, now just stick a tongue in there with a row of teeth, and finish it off with some vocal chords in your throat._

_There, done._

The moment Add had grown a proper mouth and throat again, he immediately began screaming in absolute agony. His nerves were healed up and he could feel all the pain again. Every movement of body in his bones, every time Esper would attach another part of his body back together, he could feel it all.

There were times before when Add had experienced incredible pain, but this was something completely new, and on a completely different level.

The centre of his body has been mostly healed and his legs have finally snapped back together. His left arm is back where he used to be and his right arm is currently pulling itself together. Add watches as his body is healing itself on his own and he screams even louder.

_Geez, Add, could you stop all that screeching? You little baby, this pain isn't that bad._

Add's ribcage starts reattaching itself and crackles as the bones force themselves into one another, violently forming back into a normal ribcage again. Flesh grows slowly over it, with blood gushing back into his body again. Add shrieks so loud now that his throat needs healing again.

_Okay, maybe I was wrong. I mean, most people don't know the pain of having their body being put back together. Sorry about that, I'll dampen the pain for you, your screams might attract attention._

Immediately, Add feels no pain anymore as Esper shuts it all down. Now, Add simply lies down there on the ground, waiting for everything else in his body to put back together. He stares silently at the sky with his newly-built eyes, wondering how it's possible for him to possess so much power. He had been simple chunks on the ground just a few seconds ago, there wasn't even anything left of his brain, yet Esper awakened and is now bringing him back from the dead. There's no way simple science could ever achieve something like this.

_Of course not. Don't you get it, Add? I've surpassed the realm of science. I am not bound by any laws, especially not the laws of a cruel reality like this._

Add doesn't properly understand yet, how Esper could still be conscious even after his brain had been blown up.

_Heh, I'll leave that a mystery for you to build theories upon, that will be entertaining._

_By the way, as thanks for bring you back from the dead, can I take over now?_

Add carefully opens up the mouth Esper had made for him and speaks quietly.

"…No…I won't let you."

_Oh please, even after being blown up by Ran, you're still insisting on staying in control? C'mon, buddy. Step aside for a moment and give me the control for a while. Sharing is caring._

"You'll destroy everything." Add whispers as he senses parts of his skull colliding back together, forming a head looking almost identical to his previous one.

_There's nothing left in this reality for you, Add. Why worry about it?_

"…My friends." Add manages to gasp as the last parts of his body reattach themselves and blood begins to pulse inside him again. He feels warmth rushing back into him once more.

_Seriously? Those guys? Pfft, I wouldn't miss them._

Finally, the healing process is over and Add can stand up again. He cautiously places weight on his new legs and begins to stand on them, wobbling over a few times but stays up and gasps as he can finally see what has happened around him.

His friends are all lying down on the ground around him, dead.

Eve is in pieces, with wires and computer chips scattered across the ground. Ara is missing her face and there's barely anything left of her body to recognize as a human one.

And Aisha is just a head leaning against a small rock. Nothing else.

For a moment, Add feels the need to throw up, but he hasn't healed himself enough to do such a thing.

Instead, he silently walks over to them and kneels down, unable to tear his eyes away from his friends. This is a sight he wouldn't see in his worst nightmare. They're dead, all three of them, and it's all because he held back against Ran. He could have saved them, he could have tried harder. But now, all he can see are their guts, still bleeding out dark blood on the floor in front of him. Add's black and purple armour begins to glow ominously and electrical power begins circling around him. The Nasod Dynamos, still in one piece, spin around, reflecting Add's rage in movement.

_I'll bring them back._

Esper's voice was quiet and no longer smug. He finally sounds seriously as he speaks within Add's head.

"Why would you do that?"

_Well, I want to be in control but you seem pretty persistent not to give me what I want. So, to fix this problem, I'm making you this offer. Let me take over, and I'll bring them back._

"Please," Add begins to beg, crying out fresh tears down his scarred face. "Don't make me do this."

_I'm not making you do anything, Add._

Add stays still and considers the options, he doesn't know if he can stop Esper if he takes over again, but he also cannot allow everyone to stay dead. He's seen with his own eyes that Esper can bring people back from the dead, but he knows that it won't matter anyway since Esper wants to destroy the world itself. Whatever happens, he can't just give Esper the ability to control Add without question.

But, perhaps, he can offer something else.

"I won't give you control over me, Esper. Not while I still have a chance to keep you locked away." Add whispers.

_That's a shame._

Add pauses and looks at Eve's lifeless body, her hazel eyes now black and without life.

"But I'll give you something better."

Esper sounds slightly surprised as he speaks, but still intrigued.

_Oh? And what's that?_

"Esper, you must have noticed back in that fight against Glave, you can't use all my powers. You have the powers of time and space, but the Nasod Armour and the Nasod Factory aren't at your disposal, right?"

For a long moment of silence, Esper does not respond. Everything is quiet and Add wonders if Esper is even considering what he's saying. But, eventually, Esper speaks up again.

_Keheh, you really are something, Add. I see what's going on here. You're going to offer all of your power to me?_

"Yes, but don't get your hopes up. As long as I make sure that you aren't released, you'll never be able to use them."

_Oh, nice try, but we both know it's only a matter of time until I come out. And, with this offer, I'll be even more powerful…wow, I'm seriously conflicted right now._

Add and Esper both stay quiet and allow the breeze to flow peacefully around them. Admittedly, Add is shaking with fear that Esper will deny the offer, but he doesn't show it and puts a serious expression on himself.

After what felt like the longest pause, Esper finally cackles inside Add's head with absolute delight.

_Kahahaha! Very well played, Add! You're right, I can come out now and take control over you, but what's the point if I'm not at full power? But this way, when I do come out, I'll be able to have as much fun as possible._

Add says nothing. He can't.

_Fine, it's a deal. Now then, you might want to stand back._

Immediately, Add obeys Esper and takes a couple steps back, looking at his dead comrades.

Purple shards of time-space energy starts materializing around Add and his black armour glows even brighter. The ground beneath him begins to rumble and shake from the intensity of the time-space power.

Slowly, Ara's body begins healing itself, her flesh snapping back together and sealed itself without any scars remaining. A new body grows for Aisha, complete with the clothes she had been wearing before she died, and her head is attached back to her new neck. Finally, the mechanical parts of Eve slide back into her metallic body and new wires string themselves together, sending information back and forth normally. After a full minute of watching his friends being brought back to life, they're finally healed but still unconscious.

_They'll be awake soon. Now is the time to make up a story, they'll want to know what happened._

Add should feel happy right now, or at least relieved, but none of these emotions do. Whatever happiness he could have possibly been feeling has been completely overshadowed by the fact that he has now handed over the last of his power to Esper, for the other side of him to use when he is unleashed.

The Nasod Dynamos no longer respond to any commands that Add gives it, and he can no longer access neither the Nasod Armour nor the Nasod Factory. All that he had ever worked on, all that power he had gained after so much effort, and now it's in the hands of Esper. Add no longer has any power of his own.

_Pleasure doing business with you, buddy._


	78. No 62: The War For Hamel (4 out of 4)

**Helloooooo everyone!**

**I'm very sorry that I haven't been as active as I usually should be. You know how life is. I've had a lot of things to do, writer's block has attacked me cruelly, and I've been working on chapters for other stories. Hopefully, I'll be able to update this story a lot faster from now on, I'll try my absolute best.**

**Special thanks to Funka1999, CCynic and LunaTheCat1 for following and favouring this story! Thank you SO much, you're awesome! I wish I could just give you a hug! C:**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

When Eve opens her eyes again, it feels like she has been asleep for an eternity.

She slowly rolls to her side and sees Ara and Aisha lying next to her, the two of them awake as well. They all look completely fine, even though Eve recalls that all of them had been hit by a massive energy ball by Ran. The pain that she felt is still fresh in her mind but she shakes it away, that's not something she needs to be thinking about right now.

A hand reaches out in front of her, skinny and covered in a black glove. Eve glances up and sees Add's face, no clear emotion on it. She takes his hand and feels herself being pulled up to her feet. Once she can stand again, she looks more carefully at Add, blinking a few times, trying to regain full consciousness.

"How are you feeling?" is the first thing that Add asks in a genuinely concerned voice. Eve groans and shakes her head.

"Dizzy,"

"It'll pass."

Add and Eve both look at Aisha and Ara and watch as they get to their feet by themselves, all of them holding their heads and glancing around cluelessly. They're just as dazed as Eve was. Eve remains silent and scans her inner systems for a moment, expecting for there to be at least some critical damage within her circuits, but her scan comes up fruitless. It made no sense. It's as though no harm came to her at all, even though she's certain it had.

"Add…" Ara whispers, gradually picking up her cracked spear from off the floor. "Where are we?"

"The outskirts of Hamel, just a small distance away from the war."

The mention of the war that is going on at this very moment snaps everyone back into assertive attitudes. Aisha grabs her staff and clutches it in her hands.

"How are we still alive? I thought…that man…I thought he _killed_ us."

"That is what I recall as well." Eve concurred in a confused tone, also looking at Add with an unreadable expression.

Add stays quiet for a few moments before eventually shrugging his shoulders and faking one of his usual grins.

"Hell if I know. I was hit by that attack too, but I just woke up without a scratch on me. Doesn't make sense, huh?"

His little act seems to have been bought by Aisha and Ara, but Eve frowns at the answer she has been given and folds her arms.

"We were all definitely hit by that energy ball. None of us should be alive."

"Maybe it was just an attack to subdue us?" Ara suggests, shivering unconsciously at the thought of her brother killing her without hesitation.

"Unlikely," Eve retorts, not buying that suggestion at all. She lowers her head and stares at the ground. "Even Moby, Remy, and Oberon seem like they're perfectly alright."

"And I'm sure I had a large cut on my right arm, thanks to that Succubus." Aisha notes with a raised eyebrow, rubbing her arm and seeing that there is no signs of a wound on it.

"Yes. That is what I was thinking. Why would the enemy attack us with an attack that doesn't kill, then heal us to full health?" Eve mutters next to Add, and Add says nothing at all. He cannot come up with any explanation to make this seem logical.

"Add, what do you think?" Ara asks in an antsy manner. Add shrugs once again and stares at his friends.

"I don't know. If you meet that 'Ran' guy ever again, you can go ahead and ask him."

Add is acting evasive to all of them, but with the explosions erupting in the distance, they realize that now might not be the best time to talk about these things. They're still alive, that is all that matters right now.

Eve immediately leaps onto her drones and allows them to balance her in mid-air.

"We have to move, we can't stay here. Our best shot is to regroup with our team back in Hamel." Eve states, already looking in the direction of the distant walls of Hamel, her eyes fixated on the fight.

Ara and Aisha both nod and quickly run behind the flying Eve, keeping up with her speed without problem. Add snaps his fingers instinctively, expecting the Nasod Dynamos to carry him from his feet, but they do not budge an inch. They simply hover behind him, following him like a shadow, not obeying any of his commands. His friends stop as they notice Add running behind them, a startled expression on Aisha's face.

"Um," She hesitates, frowning at Add as he pants while trying to keep up with them. "W-Why are you running?"

"Yes, shouldn't you be flying, like Eve?" Ara adds, slowing down her pace to a walk as Add begins to trail behind. Even Eve stops in place in the air and stares at Add.

"I, err, want to run for once. Having the Dynamos carrying me around everywhere gets boring after a while, you know?" Add answers back, his face completely red and sweaty.

"Add," Eve whispers as she lowers her head and leaps off of Moby and Remy, returning to the ground.

She walks slowly over to Add and glares at him, her hands clenched into fists. There are a million questions she wants to ask him right now, she has the desire to be filled in on a lot of different subjects, but right now she knows that they don't have the time for such things. She places her left hand on Add's shoulder and looks deeply into his eyes.

"What is going on?"

For a couple of silent moments, Add remains quiet and folds his arms. He can't tell them. They won't understand, it's not possible for them to understand. He cannot tell them about Esper, they won't ever believe something as far-fetched as a split personality in him, and that it's a being more powerful than him. Instead, he decides to go for the more simple answer.

_Oh, sure, you coward. Go ahead and leave them clueless, you always have._

"I've lost all control of the Nasod Dynamos." Add finally grumbles as he turns his gaze away from Eve.

* * *

Draco had thought that the demons couldn't possibly overpower him with his allies by his side, evidently, he's wrong.

Ran, all by himself, is taking on Draco, Elesis and Elsword easily, swatting them away like flies. They're in the centre of Hamel, in the heart of the war, and none of them are able to stand up for much longer. They're tired, exhausted, and Ran's power is ridiculous. In every direction, soldiers are fleeing the battle in hopes of getting away alive, and the ones that somehow hold the courage to stay and fight are immediately killed by the dark shockwaves emitting from Ran. Elesis' and Elsword's body resist the shockwaves and stay firm, but the shockwaves are hitting Draco's human body a whole lot worse. He gasps as he drops to one knee.

"We…should retreat." He pants, Veryx glowing ominously beside him. Elesis and Elsword ignore the remark and rush more attacks towards Ran, hoping that at least one of them could do some damage.

"Unlimited Blade!" They both screamed in synchronization, their swords blazing with the scorching fire being released from the magic within them.

Ran hovers there silently, with the Dark El floating behind him, and watches as all of the attacks smack against him and then immediately bounce right off of his body. He didn't even seem amused, but just bored, as he observed just how weak the attacks of humans were. At one point, Elsword's sword crashed against the side of Ran's head, having enough force behind it to shake the ground beneath them, but he still couldn't feel it. The power of the Dark El is giving him an easy victory, he cannot be touched in this state.

"Take this, Sword Fire!" Elsword screams as he stabs his weapon into the ground and uses his magical energy to form a wave of fire around him.

The flames reach Ran and sizzle on his skin, but otherwise leaving absolutely no signs of damage, and Ran sighs as he folds his arms. This is simply pitiful for him to watch.

"Sonic Blade, Sword of Victory!" Elesis cries out, her voice booming out aggressively, as her sword begins to glow.

Elesis raises her Claymore and swings it swiftly in front of her, generating powerful shockwaves of her own that clash against Ran and his armour. The wind around them shivers from the sheer force of the attack, but Ran still doesn't flinch and stares at the floor beneath, watching it break down under the pressure. Elesis then stabs her Claymore forward and uses her spiritual energy to materialize a second skin around her weapon, making it around twice as large. Elsword gasps as he witnesses it, but Ran does not show a reaction. The massive, spiritual sword collides against him, hitting him over and over again at blinding speeds, but in the end Ran grabs the enhanced Claymore and tosses it to the side like a toy, throwing Elesis across the ground as a result.

Elsword growls as he sees his older sister on the ground and rushes up to Ran again, hitting the Overlord with everything he can muster. He summons Runes over and over again, smashing them and detonating them on Ran, and materializes fire around him continuously, blazing through the air at a ridiculous pace. He, himself, is surprised by how powerful he is as he zips across the battlefield as a physical flame, attacking Ran again and again. He never had expected that turning into a Rune Slayer would do this to him.

However, even with all of his effort, he cannot cause a singular scratch to appear on Ran. The Overlord doesn't fight back, but instead looks at Elsword in the eyes as the young Knight tries desperately to win.

"Your eyes…remind me of mine." Ran mutters as Elsword's weapon collides against his stomach. "They're full of fire."

"Flame Geyser!" Elsword roars as he smashes his sword against the ground and generates a geyser of fire to erupt from below Ran. He sighs again.

"Humans are odd. They stubbornly refuse to stop fighting, even when they are looking at defeat in the eyes. You remind me a lot of when I was a human, boy." Ran continues in a whisper, not fighting back as Elsword summons more waves of fire to clash against him.

"I'm nothing like you, you're a monster that wants to kill us all." Elsword hisses back, splashing a large Rune in front of Ran and exploding it violently, but leaving no marks on Ran's flesh.

"It is survival of the fittest. Our race has always been stronger than humans, yet they are the ones that own this realm and live better lives. The Demon Realm is cold and empty, the world that no one wants to live in. So, we're claiming yours."

"Survival of the fittest, my ass." Elsword retorts sourly, driving his sword into the centre of Ran's chestplate, but it does not make a single dent.

Elsword's eyes momentarily glance at the large, black crystal floating behind Ran, the infamous Dark El. It's right there, the exact thing he needs to save himself from the curse on his arm, but it's already in use by someone else. He thinks for a second as he backs away slowly from the bored Ran and catches his breath. Ran isn't the kind of being that he can defeat, Elsword realizes that now, but he _needs_ that Dark El or he can drop dead at any moment. He stares back at Elesis, still getting off of the ground, groaning as though being woken up too early. Draco also seems pretty drained, his flaming scythe not buring as brightly as it usually does. Elsword tries to consider his options but there aren't that many available.

Ran seems to be observing Elsword and his allies as though watching children walk for the first time. It's as though he has a sense of déjà vu, seeing humans acting in such things, it reminds him of a time when he was exactly the same. Elsword understands this well, Ran's curiosity and wish to see human behaviour once more is the only reason they're alive, so Elsword decides that taking advantage of this is the only way he can stand a chance against the Overlord. He sticks out his right hand and points it confidently at Ran, throwing on a brave expression.

"Humans are a lot stronger than you think, Ran! We have an ability that demons will never have!" He shouts out with the voice of a warrior, so confident that even Elesis and Draco start staring, wondering what he's trying to do.

"Oh, really?" Ran answers with a slightly-raised eyebrow, his arms still folded, dark electricity from the Dark El surging around him. "And what would _that_ be?"

"The ability to change ourselves, the ability to adapt to any opponent as long as our spirit remains strong." Elsword hisses at Ran, his sword flashing and reflecting the sunlight beaming down upon them. Ran slightly loses his composure, more memories fading and reappearing in his mind.

Elsword hasn't laid a finger on Ran yet, but the Overlord already seems to be struggling, as though something is radiating from within. He grunts and shakes his head, trying to snap back into his demonic self. He's a killer, he already killed so many people on his way here, he's not a human. Yet, seeing humans act in these familiar and admirable ways, something is returning to Ran. He eventually holds out both of his hands and begins to glow brightly, finally showing a different expression instead of the blank one he had been using. This expression is nearly identical to Elsword's, the look of someone that wishes to win. Elesis and Draco stand beside Elsword's side, understanding now that spirit is the only way for them to gain victory. As long as they can cause Ran to become more unstable inside, they still have a chance.

"Hmph, very well then." Ran retorts, lightning sparking around him to show just how serious he has finally gotten. "Show me this ability of the humans, show me just how much your humanity is worth!"

As Ran yells out those words, the three fighters dash forward and attack away, holding absolutely nothing back. Elesis smashes Ran into the ground over and over, erupting miniature earthquakes across the battlefield, Draco summons pillars of fire and flames to engulf Ran whole and his trusty scythe to inflict wounds that weren't going away any time soon, and Elsword materializes and fires our Rune after Rune, screaming out and forcing out more magic within himself. Not only has Elsword reawakened something within Ran, but something even stronger within themselves, and Ran eventually begins to show signs of pain, grimacing as Runes collide against, as Elesis' Claymore smashes into him, and as Draco's flames burn him relentlessly. Finally, Ran starts to fight back, holding out his hands and releasing pure energy stored within the Dark El.

Even though they all try to avoid Ran's attacks, they still hit…and they hit _hard._ Spikes of darkness coil around from every side and smash against them, and after just three hits, Elesis collapses and shrieks out in agony. Elsword wants to reach out for her and help her up, but the shadows hit him too and cause him to cry out weakly. Draco is able to keep some of them away by creating walls of fire around them, but the shadows quickly find their way through and hit them repeatedly. Elsword howls in pain the spikes of shadows collide against his chest, causing him to spit out blood, and by the time he looks down he sees that he has dropped his sword without realizing it. He tries to reach for it but he can't move his body, all of it feels numb. He closes his left eye and hopes that the next wave of shadows won't hurt nearly as much now that he's numb, but the shadows decide to target Draco instead. Just four more of the spikes and he falls down to the ground too, screaming out his lungs on the way down. It's something Elsword will never forget.

Then, with no other targets for the shadows, they attack Elsword next, focusing all of their demonic energy on him. It tears through his skin, crawling down under his flesh and wiggling around, with Elsword shrieking out but still standing. He's experiencing absolute hell right now. His friends are on the ground, motionless. He's feeling a kind of pain he has never felt before. The Kingdom of Hamel is about to fall into the hands of the enemy. He might never see the rest of the Elgang ever again. The spikes dig deeper into his body, reaching their way to Elsword's heart to finish him off, breaking down anything in their path. Elsword gasps and his head is flung backwards as the shadows crawl through his chest and force themselves through his ribcage.

The shadows latch themselves onto Elsword's heart and squeeze down on it, waiting for it to burst like a bubble. Elsword whimpers quietly and closes his eyes, just awaiting the end so that the pain will finally leave him. The tattoo on his arm changes again from a 2 to a 1, the last number until his countdown. Elsword feels the stinging sensation on his arm and realizes that the tattoo has counted down another number to his death, but unexpectedly, Elsword finds himself chuckling at that.

_A stupid tattoo isn't going to kill me now, these shadows are._

That's what Elsword thinks as the shadows squeeze down even tighter on his heart. He shakes his head and gasps.

_I risked everything thinking I could get my hands on the Dark El, and now this Ran guy is going to use it to kill me. He has control over it now, he's using its power. The power of the Dark El._

Suddenly, everything goes quiet. Elsword isn't screaming anymore.

It's as though time itself stands still. As this thought had rushed through Elsword's mind, it all suddenly seems to make sense to him. Elsword almost finds himself laughing again at this situation, this is exactly what he's been looking for. He knows that he can't defeat Ran, there's no chance of him being able to do that.

But the thing is, he doesn't have to defeat Ran.

All Elsword needs is the Dark El.

And now, the Dark El is connected to Elsword's heart too. After all, _it has attached itself right onto his heart._

He's not sure just how exactly he is able to do it, but he starts connecting himself spiritually with the shadows, ignoring the pain he's receiving from his heart. At first, the shadows do not respond, but in a matter of a few more seconds, Elsword can feel himself connecting with them. Ran himself starts to frown, not understanding why the shadows haven't killed Elsword yet, and why his heart hasn't exploded into tiny, fleshy chunks. He growls and commands the shadows to squeeze harder, but a wave of fear washes over Ran as he realizes that the shadows are no longer responding to him. Unable to fathom what is going on, Ran tries to pull the shadows back out of Elsword's body.

But Elsword refuses.

As the shadows, by Ran's commands, try to slither back out of Elsword's chest, Elsword grabs them with his right hand and shakes his head. The shadows aren't going anywhere, he needs them to reach further into the consciousness of the Dark El. He knows that the Dark El, that black crystal, can think. After all, he can feel its pulse, the Dark El is gently beating like a heart. Elsword reaches out to it with his soul, trying desperately to find a connection with it.

Eventually, the Dark El's essence responds to Elsword and they create a temporary bond. Elsword can feel it perfectly now, he's connecting to the consciousness of the Dark El itself. Ran begins to coil back and look frightened, like a child that is having a toy taken away from him. He tries to pull the shadows out more violently now, knowing that the Dark El is slowly being pulled out of his grasp. However, Elsword knows better than to show weakness at a time like this, and he refuses to let go of whatever of the Dark El he has claimed for himself.

Elsword gasps quietly as the connection becomes strong enough with the Dark El that he can receive its memories, Elsword can see it all. Many soldiers, young and courageous like himself, trying to claim the Dark El for themselves but being ripped apart by it in the process. Fear flashes inside of Elsword's eyes as he sees the memories as though they are his own, but he shakes them away frantically, knowing that he cannot think about losing now.

…_You're the Dark El, right? Can you hear me?_

A muffled, distorted voice mumbles something back but Elsword cannot understand it, it must be an ancient language it's speaking. At first, Elsword's heart sinks a little knowing that he cannot understand what the Dark El is saying, but he realizes that the Dark El at least understands _him._ As long as communication is possible, there's still a chance for him, he just needs to put everything on the line.

_I need your power, Dark El. I might fall over and die at any moment, please give me everything you have._

As Elsword's thoughts speak to the Dark El, it whispers something back in a hesitant voice. Even if Elsword cannot understand the language, he can recognize the tone. The Dark El has its doubts, it has seen people just like Elsword try to absorb it again and again, but none of them succeeding. Elsword frowns and keeps pushing, staying persistent against the Dark El.

_You want a host, right? Ran is afraid of absorbing you because he knows that his body can't hold your power. I'm different. I have nothing to lose, Dark El. Even if I don't try to absorb you, I'll die anyway, do you understand?_

The Dark El's voice grunts, not saying anything in its ancient language this time. The shadows stop pulling away from Elsword and remain dormant, the Dark El isn't pulling away from Elsword anymore. Elsword himself seems a little surprised but tries to hide it. The Dark El is listening to him.

_I don't care what might happen to me. Do whatever you want. Tear my body apart, leave nothing of it behind, but…just let me try to become your next host._

The shadows advance slowly towards Elsword again, but this time the shadows have no intent on attacking. It coils itself around Elsword and slithers across his face, covering it silently. Elsword takes in a deep breath as he's covered by the blanket of darkness, this is it.

_Give it all to me, Dark El!_

The moment these words rush through Elsword's mind, the shadows grab tightly onto Elsword's body and latches itself onto its new host.

Elsword closes his eyes and begins to release involuntary screams and shrieks, feeling his entire body being pulled apart and put back together, repeatedly. More memories flash through his mind, both of his own and the Dark El's. However, this time, the memories of the Dark El's seem to be overpowering his own. Eventually, he starts remembering everything that the Dark El could ever recall, and his own memories start fading away more and more. The faces of his sister, Raven, Aisha, Chung, Rena, and all of the other friends he has made along the way start to wash away within his mind, turning into nothingness.

There's an urge for Elsword to resist, to hold onto those memories and never let them go, but in the end Elsword simply lets it happen. He can't really tell who he is anymore as the shadows of the Dark El rip him open once more. Is he actually Elsword, or is he the Dark El itself? It's difficult for him to tell the difference now.

Once all of the shadows of the Dark El find a place within Elsword's battered body, the Dark El itself collides with Elsword, merging with him. This is far more different than what Elsword had imagined. He's not absorbing the Dark El, he's becoming one being with it. A person sharing two souls in his body, that's what it takes to actually possess the Dark El's true power.

He grins as his memories of becoming Elsword and his memories of being the Dark El find places for themselves within his mind. At first, it was painful, but now it feels perfectly normal. He's not Elsword nor the Dark El.

He is the result of both of them becoming one person.

"These dark powers…_I will consume them all!_" He cackles with delight as the shadows spin around him like a raging storm, changing his body to something different.

To something new.

* * *

As Chung, Raven, Rena, and Lu and Ciel return back to one of the camps of Hamel, they see something they had never expected to witness.

Chung stares in disbelief as the White Colossus is lying on the ground, still in his armour, with several soldiers standing around him. Penensio is there too, staring at the man that was once the greatest threat in the war. Chung shakes his head and runs up to Penensio and his unconscious father.

"P-Penensio?! W-What's going on?!"

Penensio glances at Chung and sighs, scratching the back of his head slowly.

"Don't worry, Chung. Your father didn't hurt anyone at all, none of our soldiers here were injured."

"How-?" Chung begins to question, still looking at the White Colossus, expecting his father to get up at any moment and crush them all.

"The White Colossus was being possessed by the Dark El, and now that the demons are no longer using it, it seems he's back to his normal self. We had some Medics check him a few minutes ago, your father is fine and should be awake in a couple of days."

A wave of both happiness and confusion washes over him, and as his friends approach the White Colossus as well, they look just as surprised. Lu points to Chung's father, a raised eyebrow on her face.

"You're telling us…that the White Colossus just went unconscious?" She asks quietly, Ciel standing silently by her side, his arms folded.

"Yeah, he blasted right through our barracks right over there." Penensio explains, pointing with one hand at the smashed down and broken walls to his left. "But just fell to the ground and went to sleep."

"I do not understand." Ciel mutters, a dark frown plastered on his face. "Why would the demons stop using the Dark El? They had the Colossus under their complete control thanks to it."

To that question, Penensio finds himself just shrugging.

"Maybe the Dark El was destroyed," He suggests, but to that answer Rena immediately shakes her head.

"No, the Dark El is nearly indestructible, there's no one that could have even damaged it." She speaks in deep thought, and finally her eyes flash and a look of anxiety appears on her face. "But…if someone were to try to…_absorb_ it…the Dark El's influence on the demons would be stopped."

"What kind of fool would try to absorb that demonic crystal?" Raven retorts, not buying that answer either. He cannot think of anyone reckless enough to try that.

For a moment, Add's face appears in Raven's mind, but Raven doesn't believe that even _he_ would be crazy enough to do that.

"Well, no matter _what_ happened…" Chung interrupts, staring at the idle soldiers around him. "We need to get him medical attention, get every Medic you have over here now."

"Yes, sir." Penensio responds, but for a second, he starts to hesitate. "Um, but what if he becomes a demon again as we're healing him?"

Chung opens his mouth to give some kind of answer, but he cannot think of a proper one. He's right, his father could become possessed by the demons again at any moment, and then more of his men will die.

But at the same time, they need to take opportunity of this situation.

"That's an order, Penensio." Chung simply replies in a quiet voice and Penensio immediately nods his head and walks off, shouting out commands to the soldiers left.

Chung sighs as he looks at his friends.

They don't look nearly as bad as they should, but they're still bruised and bleeding. It will take them at least a week to shake off the pain that the war has given them. Chung himself begins to wonder if he'll be able to sleep tonight, or if he'll be kept awake by the faces of the soldiers he saw die. A lot of them had, there are barely any soldiers left, and Chung still hasn't heard from most of his friends.

But, as he looks up to the sky and stares at the buildings of Hamel still standing, a small feeling of relief fills his body. Against all odds, the demons haven't taken over his Kingdom, Hamel still stands.

He drops his heavy Destroyer to the ground and stares at his friends. They glance back, small smiles present on their faces, except for Lu and Ciel. Chung leans his head back and closes his eyes, feeling the soft breeze brush past his bruised face.

"This war is over." He chuckles quietly to himself, sitting down on the cracked ground beneath him.


	79. No 62 (Filler): Old Wounds

**Hey guys!**

**As I've stated on my profile, I'm taking a short break for now. I'm very tired and I have writer's block, so this is just a filler to buy me some time!**

**Feedback is always welcome~! c:**

* * *

The war is finally over, but things are yet to be made right.

Chung, Lu, Ciel and the others have now realized that someone has done something to interrupt the Dark El's influence on the demons. And with a dark storm descending ominously down onto a small area of Hamel, they know that the person who has done this is at that location.

Ciel leads the group, moving forward with Rena and Raven following behind, and Chung and Lu at the back. They move together slowly towards the dark, demonic cloud.

And as they approach it, Ciel pulls out his right Gunblade without hesitation and points it at the thick swarm of darkness.

It spins and weaves itself around for a while before finally dispersing, and nearby soldiers watch with shock as something, or _someone_, steps out of the cloud.

A young boy with sharp, piercing red eyes and black and red hair glares at Ciel, darkness emitting naturally out of him. The boy's hair is spiked and his clothes are rough and jagged.

For a moment, Ciel wonders if the demonic boy is Elsword, but he shakes his head and keeps his Gunblade drawn. Elsword has never looked like that before, there's no way he has changed so drastically. With the assassin's finger on the trigger of his weapon, the demonic boy's stare is directed at Ciel and he takes another few steps forward.

"What…are you?" Ciel finally finds himself asking the demonic boy, Chung standing silently beside Ciel with a blank expression.

Raven notices an unconscious Elesis and fallen Draco next to the feet of the demonic child, and he growls. That person must have attacked their allies.

"Did you hurt them?" Raven asks the strange child, but just like Ciel's question, the boy does not answer.

He simply keeps moving towards the team silently, his sharp eyes sending an aura of fear to everyone. Rena steps forward, in front of Ciel's Gunblade, and gently pushes it down, shaking her head calmly.

"What are you doing? That's Elsword!" She scolds Ciel for pointing his weapon, but Ciel shakes his head as well.

"That's not Elsword."

"Just look at him, Ciel! Who else can that be?"

Rena decides not to argue with Ciel on this and walks slowly towards the demonic boy, a calm and reassuring smile on her face. She seemed hesitant herself, but she gradually held a hand out for the boy to take.

"Elsword…? Can you hear me…? If you can, take my hand." The Elf speaks worriedly, her held-out hand shivering.

And finally, the boy begins to speak again.

"…Rena." Is all that he mutters quietly under his breath, as though it's a completely new word to him, and Rena nods her head happily.

"That's right, it's me, Rena! And you're Elsword, remember?"

The boy glances up for a second, trying to recall that name. His head hurts and everything is a mess inside of his mind. The green-haired Elf seems familiar to him, but at the same time a side of him is telling him that he has never met this woman before. He grunts and shakes his head. Elsword. Is that really his name?

"I am…Elsword…?"

"Yes, you are. You are our friend. Tell me, Elsword, what happened here? Where is the Dark El?"

Elsword stares at Rena and remains silent again, as though in deep thought, and when he finally comes up with a response, it shocks everyone in the team.

"Here," He mumbles, pointing his finger at his own chest.

Lu is the next person to gradually lose her calm. She walks forward towards Elsword and grabs him by the shirt, and regardless of being shorter than him, she almost lifts him off of the ground.

"What do you mean?! Where is the Dark El?!"

"…I am the Dark El."

"Explain yourself this instant!"

Elsword grunts again and rubs the back of his head, his spiked hair flowing ominously with the wind. His darker and sharper facial features glare directly at Lu as he explains.

"Ran…the Overlord of the demons…he attacked us with the power of the Dark El. I didn't know what to do…so I just tried to absorb its power."

"You…_absorbed _the Dark El?" Chung questions in disbelief, taking a few steps away from Elsword, looking at him in a different light.

"No, I didn't absorb it. I…I merged with it. We became one. I'm not Elsword _or_ the Dark El…I'm the result of the two of them becoming one being."

Ciel pulls his Gunblade upward again, pointing its barrel at Elsword's head. Rena notices immediately and shoots him a look

"Ciel!"

"I'm not taking any chances. Even if he is our ally, he's different."

Elsword doesn't seem bothered by having a gun pointed at him for some reason, instead he nods his head slowly and agrees with the cold assassin.

"He's right. I'm different now. I don't even remember half of my memories as 'Elsword', I'm not safe to be around."

Before Rena can really lose her temper and argue with both Elsword and Ciel, more people begin to approach the sight.

Add, Aisha, Eve, and Ara rush up frantically to the Elsword and the others, having no clue what had just happened. Ara frowns as she sees Ciel pointing his weapon at Elsword and begins to look antsy.

"W-What's going on here?" She asks, her spear gripped tightly in her hands.

"Elsword absorbed the Dark El." Ciel answers back without hesitant, and everyone takes a few steps back, except for Add, who instead takes another few steps forward.

"Bloody hell," Add mutters quietly, looking dazed and as though he is in a dream. "I didn't know you had it in you."

Elsword glances at Add, and unexpectedly, slowly begins to show signs of a smile on his face.

"I…remember you. You're…Add."

"Yeah? Congratulations, you didn't forget one of your allies. Jeez, did you get hit in the head or something?"

"You…look different." Elsword responds, looking up and down at the massive, black, demonic armour covering Add's body, and Add nods back.

"You don't look the same either, you know. What the hell did the Dark El do to you?"

"I _am_ the Dark El," Is all that Elsword can think of to say.

Add looks confused but nods his head anyway. Eve stands beside Add and looks at the others, a concerned expression on her face.

"We need to return to our tents for now."

* * *

The entire team, wounded and tired, return back to the camps with cuts soon to become scars.

Elsword had taken his leave into a separate tent from everyone else, still in a complete daze, while the others headed into a bigger tent in order to talk to each other and gather their thoughts.

Eve said that she needed to have a talk in private with Add, so they left and headed towards their own tent that Penensio had lent them. All the others step into the bigger tent, and almost at the exact same time, heave out a heavy sigh and grab a chair to sit on.

Ciel is the only one still standing up. There is a chair beside Lu for him to sit on, but he chooses not to take it, obtaining a confused look from Lu herself. He folds his arms and lowers his head, looking far older than he actually is, the stress and exhaustion of the war is showing its effects on him. He opens his mouth and begins to grumble.

"Okay, so I've talked to Penensio and he agreed to get Elesis and Draco to the medical centre as soon as possible. Hopefully, they'll be fine. Now, let's recap the events and results of our war."

Chung nods his head in concurrence and stands up to, no longer donning his heavy suit of armour.

"Yes, I agree. We defeated the demons both inside and outside of Hamel. Whatever demons remained retreated a few hours ago. The Colossus...well…he was taken into custody and has yet to gain consciousness. Without the Dark El controlling him, he should be no threat."

"That's fine and all," Raven interrupts, sitting next to Rena with a grim expression on his scarred face. "But we need to talk about the more serious issues, like our own team."

"Indeed. We suffered many injuries, but some of us have changed more than we can be comfortable with. Elsword, of course, is the biggest problem we need to worry about now."

"Yeah, we've been afraid of the Dark El for so long…but now it's a part of him…" Aisha whispers anxiously, her mind unable to stop worrying about Elsword. "But, I'm sure he'll be okay."

Ciel shakes his head in disagreement, his eyes and serious expression not wavering.

"We cannot just ignore the fact that he has combined himself with something so dangerous. For now, we have to keep a very close eye on him, is that understood?"

"You can't boss us around, Ciel." Rena objects with anger flashing in her eyes, upset that someone is talking about her dear friend like that. "He's not a 'thing', he's still Elsword. We can't watch over him like he's not a person."

"Calm down, Rena. All he's saying is that we need to be careful around him for a while. No one has said that he's not a person." Raven butts in again, trying to calm Rena. It takes a while, and there's still signs of frustration on her face, but she eventually cools down.

"And as for Add," Ciel continues, pretending like that short discussion never happened. "Eve just informed me that he's lost his powers. All of them. That is a serious problem to deal with too, especially since Add is admittedly one of the most powerful and versatile team members of this group."

"Good riddance," Aisha snorts, not upset by the news at all. "Maybe it'll finally do something to that massive ego of his."

But there's no point in denying it, the overall morale of the team has dropped significantly, they're all afraid of what will happen next. They saved Hamel, but at what cost? Will they even be a complete team after this?

And while the White Colossus is now in one of the Hamel prisons, the Overlord of the demons, Ran, has disappeared without a trace. For a moment, the thought of Elsword absorbing Ran along with the Dark El crosses Ciel's mind, but he quickly shakes it away and denies the slightest possibility. Lu will do anything to kill Ran, so if Elsword possesses a part of him too, that would be all the more problematic. And the team has plenty of problems to deal with already. Ciel nods slowly to himself, what happened to Ran can be something to be worried about later.

"Everyone should get some rest for now, I will go keep watch outside." Ciel tells the team, looking at their tired expressions before exiting the tent.

He takes a few steps outside and glares at the camp, or whatever is left of it. There are barely any tents left for them to stay in, and the ones that are still standing aren't in the best condition. The camp also used to be completely crowded with soldiers, but there are only a few in sight and there are no smiles to be found on them. Almost all of Hamel's soldiers are dead now, and there's no bringing them back.

Ciel frowns grimly and groans. They saved Hamel, but the question now remains…just how _much_ of Hamel did they save after all? The kingdom might not be in the demons' hands anymore, but there's nothing left for the people of Hamel now. This is an area that will take many years to repair…and that's assuming that they are even able to fix everything back to the way it was.

Footsteps echo behind him. Ciel turns around. It's Lu. Her white hair flowing through the air and her blue eyes staring directly at him. Ciel realizes now just how much taller she's gotten. She used to be around halfway his height, and while she's still significantly shorter than him, she isn't nearly as small as she used to be. They hold a silent glare at each other until Lu finally speaks.

"Why are you avoiding me?"

Ciel grunts and turns away, looking out at the broken down kingdom.

"I'm not."

"You've been avoiding me ever since the war ended. Don't lie." Lu huffs, folding her arms and circling around Ciel to stand in front of him, wanting his full attention. "I'll ask again, why are you avoiding me?"

"You are unstable. I think it would be best if I kept my distance for now."

At first, there is signs of shock on Lu's face, but that expression soon fades as she understands why Ciel is saying that.

During their battle in the war, they had encountered Karis, the one that had betrayed Lu and had killed Ciel later on. They had finally met her after what she had put them through, and with the power of the two of them, they were able to defeat Karis once and for all. Lu recalled how she was seething with hatred and how she wanted Karis dead at her feet, but Ciel wasn't like that at all. Even though he himself was once a renowned assassin, he did not wish to kill his enemy.

But Lu insisted and demanded that Ciel should kill her. Eventually, Ciel shot Karis directly through the head, but he has never been the same since then. Lu has obviously noticed that, and she isn't even sure if she is confident with what she did anymore.

"She was our enemy…" Lu whispers, her head lowered and her voice feeble. "Karis had killed you once and had taken everything away from me. I…I wanted her to pay."

"With her life?" Ciel snaps back, anger now revealing itself in his voice.

"That's how demons have always settled things. If we get in the way of one another, we fight to the death."

"That's not how things should be."

"You used to be an assassin yourself, you know what I mean."

"I killed because I had to. If I decided to not even take one life, I would be homeless and most likely would've starved to death. That's the difference. You had no reason to give the order to kill Karis except for your own satisfaction. Nothing would have happened to you if you had spared her."

"Her death is what I wanted. I knew I would never feel better until she was dead."

"Oh? And do you feel better now?"

Lu wants to say yes, but she knows that is a complete lie.

She expected herself to feel great and confident again after Karis' death, but she still has not felt that yet. All she feels right now is guilt, and as much as she doesn't want to admit it, what Ciel is saying is true. There was nothing stopped Lu from sparing Karis, but she had Karis killed out of her own desire.

It's no surprise that Ciel seems so distant now.

"No, I don't feel any better. It's just…it was in the heat of the moment, Ciel. Please don't judge me for it."

"I cannot promise something like that. I will never stop serving you, Lu, but now I'm not sure if we see things the same. That will become troublesome later on."

"Yeah…" Lu mutters back, the thought day of them falling apart sending a shiver up her spine. She doesn't want that.

She will do anything possible to make sure that does not happen.

Ciel heaves another sigh and faces Lu again, his firm expression now slightly softer. He walks past Lu and pats her head before heading back into the tents. His earrings swaying from side-to-side in the wind.

"For now, let's just get some rest." He speaks back to her normally now, and Lu grins and nods back at him.

Lu dashes over to Ciel's side and they step inside an old tent together. Eventually, with all that has happened to them, the camp finally starts to fill with life again. People laugh and giggle, talking casually to each other again. And soon enough, Elsword will snap back into his usual self and join them, he'll realize who he really is.

But something lurking in the shadows stares at the camp silently.

Glave watches over the tent from afar, atop a long tree surrounding the camp. He stands on one of the branches, glaring down at where the Elgang is located. Luto gave him specific instructions to kill Add no matter what, that white-haired boy has become unstable and they need to dispose of him.

And now that Luto has taken Glave's mask off, Glave is finally at his full power.

It feels great, being able to feel the wind on his face again, and he grins as he realizes that he's no longer under Luto's influence. Perhaps, after he has killed Add, he can finally be free from being the Keeper of the time-space continuum.

Glave shakes his head. There are more important things to be thinking about right now. He needs to focus.

Killing Add will not be easy. Glave does not doubt his ability to take Add in a fair battle, but the thought of having to fight the entire team makes him feel antsy. The chances of him beating them all is low, especially since he is not fighting them in the continuum. While not in the continuum, his regenerating abilities are weakened. He needs a solution.

And it comes to him almost immediately.

After fighting through an entire war, the Elgang are tired and exhausted, with the atmosphere becoming extremely tense. Glave can use this to his advantage. Once the team finally breaks apart, it will be the perfect opportunity for him to grab Add and kill him quickly.

…and he knows just how to break the Elgang down, mentally.


	80. No 63: Infinite Blades Against Time

**Hello, sorry for the long wait, here's the next chapter!**

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It only took a few moments for all hell to break loose inside of Hamel's camp.

With almost all of Hamel's soldiers dead or injured, Glave broke through their defences with absolute ease. Whoever was still left that tried to stop him was immediately torn in half by the unstoppable being. Glave chuckled as he snapped his fingers and watched as half of the camp instantly exploded. His aim wasn't to destroy all of the camp, however, as he had a far greater goal in mind.

To lure the Elgang out.

Ciel hears the sounds of commotions from a mile away, and instinctively grabbing his two Gunblades, he darts out of his tent and stares at the camp. His eyes widen and his voice becomes caught in his throat as he looks at the destruction around him. In every direction he looks in, there's only fire to behold. He tightens his grip on his Gunblades and continues to move forward through the flames, searching for whatever is causing this. The only thought in his mind is getting the soldiers out of the area. These are the kind of flames that won't go out easily, and the soldiers are already worn out from the war they had participated in. As he watched more soldiers burn to death left and right, another thought enters his mind. A question.

Where is the rest of the Elgang?

Hearing the shout of an inappropriate swear, Ciel glances to his right and stares at the man. It's Add.

"Bloody hell," He growls, tearing off a spare, brown shirt he had been wearing, tossing it away and watching as it becomes nothing but ashes. With his shirt off, Ciel can clearly see the black and ominous armour around Add. It emits an unsettling feeling. "What the hell is going on?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, I'm afraid. My best bet is that it's one of the demons we failed to kill."

"A demon? Doing this much damage? I doubt it. Either way, we need to find Eve and the others. You in?"

"Yes, just be careful. It will be difficult to navigate a proper way through all of this fire."

That causes Add to frown with frustration. He shakes his head and takes the lead, stepping through whatever area has the least amount of flames swarming around it. Ciel steps around carefully as well, and the entire time the assassin is feeling worried about Lu. What if she got caught in one of the flames, what if she has gotten separated from the rest of the group? Just the thought that she's hurt right now sends a shivering sensation up his spine. Trying the best he can, he walks faster and faster while still avoiding the flames.

"Add," Ciel calls out as they reach a halt. With more flames closing in, they don't have much time to talk, so Ciel tries to think of the quickest solution for the both of them. "Use the Dynamos to fly over the camp and find their location. If you can regroup with them, do it. I'll be sure to catch up."

With an annoyed groan, Add shakes his head again.

"No can do. The Dynamos aren't listening to me right now, I can't fly with them."

"Can you do anything with them?"

"No, nothing."

With the flames in front of them dispersing, they can both finally walk faster through the camp. The camp itself is already done for, it's easy for Ciel to see, but if they can find Penensio they can still get some of the soldiers out of the area before everything is reduced to ashes.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the camp, Glave is having the time of his life.

It had been around a thousand years since his power had been sealed up, and it feels wonderful to finally be able to use that same power once again. The mask had been restricted most of his strength, but there is nothing holding him back anymore. After waiting for so long, he's finally free.

He flicks his wrist and observes ten escaping soldiers become consumed by the fire easily. This will be more than enough to bring out the members of the Elgang, and once he can get all of them together, he can finish them once and for all and kill Add. While the thought of having to fight Add's alter ego, Esper, made Glave feel anxious, now he has no doubts in his mind that he can manage it. It will be a battle that will be passed down through the centuries. A fight between gods.

But it isn't Add that Glave is trying to lure out by burning this camp down, that's not his intention. No, what he needs is to tear apart the Elgang so that getting Add will be a piece of cake. And to do that, he requires the most unstable fighter in the Elgang, Elsword.

Glave watched from afar as Elsword absorbed the Dark El and became one with it. And since it's been very little time since that transformation, Glave knows that Elsword is incredibly unstable and prone to lose control. The moment Elsword shows himself, everything will fall into place for Glave.

Without any warning, a spark of electricity smashes into the back of Glave's head. Chuckling, Glave turns around and looks at the person that fired it. Eve.

The Nasod Queen looks tired and scrapped by the explosions going about, but she is obviously still strong enough to fire off attacks. With a blank expression, Eve stares at Glave and charges up more electricity into her hands.

"Where's your mask?" She asks quietly as Moby and Remy dance furiously around her. Glave laughs at her question.

"Don't need it anymore. It was used to keep my powers under check, but with it off, I really feel like myself again."

Eve does not show it to Glave, but she's surprised to finally see his real face. Glave has a well-structured head, with high cheekbones and a devilish smile. He has sharp eyes that stare directly at whoever he is looking at, and his spiked white hair reminds Eve a lot of Add when she had first met him.

But the thing that stood out the most now that Glave had taken off the mask was his right eye. Unlike his left eye, which is yellow, his right eye is red with a blue sclera, with glowing veins going across it. It doesn't look naturally no matter what way you look at it, and Eve finds herself looking at it longer than she should.

In the span of an instant, she flies forward and materializes Oberon to throw out several slashes. With his arms folded, Glave moves across the battlefield as a complete blur. Moby and Remy hover close to Eve to protect her but it is to no avail. There was absolutely no way that Eve could've blocked the attack. Glave dashes forward and grabs Eve by the neck, squeezing down on it and smashing her face into the ground. Upon impact, the ground beneath the two of them gives way and a series of explosions follow immediately afterwards. During the explosions, Eve manages to slip out of Glave's grasp and retreat a few steps.

She coils backwards and gasps. Her eyes cannot keep sight of Glave when he moves around to attack, nor can Oberon protect her in time. She begins considering her options.

Throwing Glave into the fire around them could work, but that would be assuming that she can even grab hold of him and do something like that. It doesn't seem like retreating is an option for her either, there's no chance of her outrunning him with his ridiculous speed.

"Come on, show me what the power of the Nasods is worth!" Glave chuckles, moving on the attack once again, and Eve can do nothing but hold her arms out in front of her.

But just a moment before Glave can hit Eve, something leaps in between the two of them and pushes Glave back.

It's Elsword.

His spiked hair and clothes match the flames shuddering around them. And as Glave sets eyes on the person that stopped him from destroying Eve, his grin grows instinctively.

"Ah, Elsword. Just the person I've been looking for."

Elsword stares at Glave for a few moments but says absolutely nothing. Instead, he turns his head and speaks quietly to Eve.

"Run." is all that Elsword commands.

And while Eve wants to keep fighting, she knows all too well that she doesn't stand a chance. She takes a few careful steps before letting Moby and Remy grab onto her arms and carry her away. It bothers Glave that one of his enemies are getting away, but he shakes his head and ignores the retreating Nasod. That woman is not his target, Elsword is. Once he's finished with Elsword, he will finally move onto the rest and have his fun.

Elsword watches silently as Eve disappears into the thickness of the burning camp before glancing back at Glave, his hands clenched into fists.

"You said you were looking for me?" He finally speaks to Glave, causing the unmasked man to chuckle back.

"Indeed. I need your influence for what I have to do next, so if you could just go on a murderous rampage…that would be great."

"The only person I'll be murdering today is you, Glave." Elsword hisses back, his voice sounding nothing like Glave remembered it being.

It wasn't confidence. It wasn't a bold challenge. It was pure murdering intent.

And Glave found that delicious.

With both Glave and Elsword moving like blurs, they dart towards each other and clash. Summoning a second sword into his left hand, Elsword slashes away with two swords covered in magical flames. Glave summons a blue sword of his own and blocks each attack carefully, his arm moving too fast for any normal person to keep an eye on. There were a few close calls, but Glave parries Elsword's dual styled attacks one-by-one without breaking a sweat. Perhaps if he was still restricted by his mask, this could've proven itself to be a challenge, but that isn't the case. With all of his true power finally unleashed, even this battle against a Knight with the power of the Dark El isn't a proper challenge for him. As Elsword smashes both of his swords down at Glave at once, Glave sees his window of opportunity and kicks Elsword in the stomach, sending the Knight a few steps backward.

The kick doesn't seem to faze Elsword and he rushes directly towards Glave again. This is the first time he has ever used a dual sword fighting style, but already it is starting to feel natural to him. Rolling forward with his swords, Elsword rockets into Glave and swings his weapons multiple times. Glave blocks them with the blue sword he had made but frowns as his sword breaks apart under Elsword's hits. With little to no trouble, Glave creates another one, larger and sturdier, and the fight continues. Continuously, Elsword materializes more fire around himself and his weapons, and erupts pillars of flames in front of Glave.

Already busy with blocking Elsword's strikes, two pillars eventually reach him and light his right arm on fire. Groaning with annoyance, Glave grabs the top part of his arm and rips it off, tossing it away before any other part of his body becomes lit. Elsword stops his attacks for a moment and watches, his eyes widened. Glave didn't even hesitate.

"You're being quite troublesome." Glave mutters to Elsword, a smug grin still present on his face. "I need you to be unstable, but it looks like I need to push you further for that to happen."

"Why do you need me to be unstable?"

"Because when you are, you won't help but want to kill anyone in your way. That will distract your friends long enough for me to claim what I want."

"And what's that?"

"Well…" Glave laughs happily, growing back his right arm in the matter of a few seconds. "…if I told you I'd have to kill you."

They clash again, their weapons colliding together and emitting their own small shockwaves.

Elsword would've already been dead if Glave really wanted it, but he doesn't. He doesn't want to kill Elsword, he simply needs to push the young Knight to his limits so that he'll release the destructive power of the Dark El. He cuts deep wounds into Elsword's arms and legs and dodges anything the Knight can throw at him at the same time. At this rate, it will only be a few more moments before the Dark El's true nature is shown and released.

A weapon flashes behind Glave, and before he notices it, his left leg comes flying off. He stares at the disembodied limb and then glances at the person who sliced it off, seeing Raven and the other members of the Elgang behind him.

Glave frowns. This is what he didn't want happening, the rest of the Elgang regrouping. The destruction of this camp was supposed to cause them to disperse, but now almost everyone is here. Everyone except for Ciel and Add. Despite his immense amount of power, Glave doesn't feel willing to fight so many people on at once, that will only complicate things further.

Lu, Rena, Aisha, Ara, Chung, and Elesis stand behind Raven as they approach Glave. With a dark and ominous expression on his face, Chung slowly steps in front of Raven and leads the group, the Destroyer held tightly in his grasp. He glares at Glave with fire in his eyes and growls.

"Are you the one who killed all these soldiers?" The Prince asks, his voice trembling. Not trembling out of fear, however, it's from pure and absolute rage.

Glave looks around at the burnt corpses lying on the ground and nods casually.

"Yes, if I recall correctly."

That's all that Chung needs to hear out of Glave.

Getting in the way of Elsword and Glave, Chung slips into the battle and rushes towards Glave, smashing his Destroyer into the ground and causing several explosions. On instinct, Glave steps out of the way of the explosions and leaps upwards, hovering into the air and staring at the Elgang.

_This isn't going well, I didn't want them together like this._ Glave thinks to himself.

"Well, this is not good." Glave speaks out loud to the team underneath him. With a large grin on his face, he snaps his fingers and watches as blue light materializes around the Elgang, causing them to vanish one by one

Except for Elsword.

"W-What did you do to them?"

"Oh, don't worry. I only teleported them somewhere else. They will be dealt with later, but I have my priorities. By the time they get back here, I'll have already accomplished what I came here for."

"You won't make me lose control. I can't turn on my friends."

"Please, it's not in your hands anymore. You're all alone and there's nothing you can do to hurt me."

Not needing to say another word, Elsword and Glave throw themselves at each other and collide with incredible force that breaks the earth beneath them. The Dark El against the Keeper of time and space.

A battle to top all battles.

* * *

The rest of the Elgang grumble and groan as they're dropped into a completely different location.

Lu jolts off the ground and gasps, feeling like she has aged a century. She never had gotten used to teleporting even though Glave has pulled that trick on the team before. Everyone else slowly gets to their feet as well, but by the time they have, Lu is already walking around nervously.

"Where are we? Where's Ciel?" She asks the team with an anxious expression on her face, not being used to being alone without him.

"Beats me," Elesis grumbles, grimacing from the pain of her injuries still remaining after her battle with Ran. She looks around, counts the team members, and frowns. "But it looks like Ciel, Add, and Draco are not with us."

"They're probably still stuck at the camp."

"That place is on fire! We have to go and help!" Ara yelps, her eyes widened, but Raven shakes his head at her.

"And have Glave teleport us again? We should just leave it to Elsword and the others, we don't know what Glave is capable of with all of his power unlocked."

"No," Eve disagrees, her arms folded. "Add is in that burning camp and he doesn't have any of his powers. We're heading back there."

In the moment where Raven and Eve are glaring at each other and it seems like an argument is about to break out, Rena steps in calmly and stands between them, speaking softly.

"Either way, we first need to figure out where in Elrios we are, right?"

That causes Eve and Raven to quiet down and nod, hearing the voice of reason. It's true, they have absolutely no idea where they are, and knowing that comes above all else.

Everyone looks around and tries to recognize the area. There's simply machineries in their surroundings, with the sounds of clanging and screeching of metal clashing against metal echoing. The stale and dusty smell looms around them as they walked together past all the brown and purple machines. It's almost as though they're in some kind of massive factory, yet there are no workers in sight nor any working equipment for ordinary people.

"Anyone recognize this place?" Raven asks the team, leading them at the front.

Silence stills over the team and Raven realizes that none of them have any idea what this place is. He curses under his breath. Glave didn't bother thinking about where to put the team, that man simply teleported them someplace far away from Hamel. He glances over to Chung and sees the Prince's antsy eyes. Chung isn't comfortable with being so far away from his kingdom while it's under attack.

"What the-?!" The team suddenly someone from behind them yelp out. They turn around and see a short, blonde-haired girl with a hammer standing there. "Trespassers?"

The girl has a small stature and a normal sized hammer, but Raven looks at her cautiously.

"No, we're not trespassing. We've simply gotten lost, can you tell us where we are?" Raven speaks calmly to the strange girl.

"Yeah, right!" The girl huffs back at Raven, not buying his explanation. "People don't get just 'lost' in this place, how did you get here?"

Raven frowns, he's telling the girl the truth but she isn't believing him, and while she doesn't seem like she can hurt the Elgang she could very well call for reinforcements. The exhausted team doesn't need something like that happening at a time like this, they just want to know where they are.

Before the situation can escalate, however, another girl shows up and waves her hands worriedly.

"Hey, Steel, calm down!" The red-haired girl tells the girl with the hammer before looking at the team. "I'm sorry about that, she's not good with strangers."

"And you are?" Raven asks.

"I'm Ignia, and this is Steel. Sorry about that misunderstanding, it's just that we don't get that many visits here."

"Sorry to ask such a weird question," Eve mumbles to the cheerful and air-headed Ignia. "But where is 'here'?"

"Why, this is Lanox, of course!"

The Elgang glance at each other at the same time with raised eyebrows. None of them have ever heard of an area in Elrios with that name, and Raven finds himself in the awkward position of telling Ignia and Steel that. When he does so, he rubs the back of his head.

"Um, yeah, we don't know what Lanox is."

"T-Then how did you guys even get here?" Steel questions with widened eyes, looking at the Elgang as though they are aliens.

"This might sound strange, but we were teleported." Chung whispers with a blank expression, and Ignia places her index finger on her cheek.

"Teleported, huh? By whom?"

"A pain in the ass, that's who." Elesis grumbles, frustrated to be away from her brother while he's currently in an intense battle.

Raven turns around to look at Elesis and shoots a glare at her before turning back around to Ignia and Steel to give them a proper answer.

"A man by the name of Glave, you wouldn't know him."

"Well, I do, actually." Ignia answers back immediately with a grin on her face.

"What? How?"

"Weeeeeell," Ignia giggles happily to the Elgang, looking pleased to tell more people about herself. "I'm actually the Fire Priestess."

Most of the Elgang don't know what that title is supposed to mean, but Aisha does and she looks like she has seen a ghost when she hears that from Ignia. She rushes forward to the red-haired girl and shakes her hand happily.

"Oh my god, you're one of the Priestesses?"

In an instant, Aisha completely forgets about her team and starts barraging Ignia with all sorts of questions, from what kinds of magic she can use to what shampoo she uses for her hair. Rena sighs but giggles at the same time while the rest of the Elgang simply groan. Chung had to actually go up to Aisha and tap her on the back before she snapped out of it and decided to tell who Ignia is.

"O-oh, um," Aisha stutters nervously, blushing uncontrollably to her team, looking as bashful as possible. "…you see, there are many Priestesses around Elrios which have incredible and magical powers, and Ignia is one of them."

"So as your title states, you're quite talented with fire magic?" Elesis questions.

"Yep! That's right!" Ignia answers with a bright smile on her face, reminding Elesis of how Elsword used to smile.

"Say, can we meet the leader of this place? That would really help." Ara suggests to Ignia, and the amiable Ignia giggles back in response.

"Sure! In fact, he's right over there!"

The team swivel their heads to the left and stare at the spinning wheel at the metallic village, hanging on with two bars attached to a cliff in a symmetrical fashion. On the top of that wheel, a tall man is stood, looking over the cliff he's positioned beside. The way it looks, he might fall over at any moment, but he instinctively leaps off the wheel and walks over to the Elgang with a serious expression on his face.

And as he gets close enough to see him properly, Raven almost swears that he's looking at himself.

The man is slightly dark-skinned with scars gashed all over his face, with red clothes and a sharp blade by his side. His piercing, yellow eyes glare directly at the team and he mutters in a deep voice at them.

"Who are these folks?"

Raven slowly steps forward and stares at the man who looks almost identical to him.

"W-We are a group of travellers…n-naming the El Search Party." Raven finds himself stuttering for the first time.

"I see." The man answers back in a tone of deep thought, not seeming to realize or react to how much him and Raven look alike.

"A-And w-who are you…?"

The man chuckles quietly and places one robotic hand on his hip and sheathes his blade with the other before giving his introduction.

"I'm Edan, keeper of Lanox."


	81. No 64: The Unpleasant Surprise

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* * *

"That ended faster than I expected."

Glave stands over Elsword, staring at the unconscious child lying at his feet. Their battle had raged on for quite some time, and once it was finally over, Elsword had failed to even stand anymore. His eyes are closed and his body is limp, he used all of his strength against Glave but still lost.

"Funny, isn't it?" Glave laughs, poking Elsword's back with his foot. "Just a couple of months ago, you almost killed me when you gained the ability to use magic, but now you're just a puny insect."

The wind howls and Glave gets no response from the unconscious Elsword, but Glave doesn't seem to care and continues to simply talk to himself.

"It's all thanks to finally being let free. I've had these chains for so long, and no longer having my power limited is wonderful. It might be more difficult to control than before, sure, but I can live with that. It's a shame you didn't go berserk though, that would've been pretty helpful for my cause."

Carefully, two figures emerge from the smoke covering the Hamel camp like a blanket. Both Ciel and Add step out of it and reveal themselves, coughing and wheezing. The moment Glave turns around and sees the two members of the Elgang, he begins to smile once again.

"Oh, it's you two. I was wondering where the rest of Elsword's friends were."

By pure instinct, Ciel pulls out his Gunblades and points them at Glave threateningly. Ciel doesn't recognize that the man is Glave since he's no longer wearing a mask, but Add is different. He knows that the tall, white-haired, handsome man is Glave, without a sliver of a doubt.

"Glave," Add mutters, pushing away the arm Ciel was using to help him walk properly with his injuries. "You should be dead. I killed you with my own hands."

"Wrong. Esper did that, remember? That other side of you killed me, but you're a simple weakling, Add."

"Still, you should be dead."

"Well, you can thank Master Luto for bringing me back from the grave. He has always been kind."

"I liked you better when you weren't breathing."

"Oh, Add, old friend. You don't know how much those words hurt." Glave chuckles with delight, his voice filled to the brim with sarcasm. He completely forgets about his fight with Elsword and moves slowly towards Ciel and Add, blue shards of time energy spinning ominously behind him. "Well then, why don't you kill me again?"

Add begins to walk forward as well but suddenly stops and freezes awkwardly, remembering that the Nasod Dynamos are no longer listening to him because of his deal with Esper. He cannot fight. Right now, Add only has the power of an ordinary human.

_Why don't you let me out then? I killed Glave once, and I can do it again._

Esper's voice echoes happily inside Add's head but he ignores it, refusing to let that strange part of him be released again. Instead, he turns his head towards Ciel and groans, realizing that he needs to ask for someone else's help.

"Ciel, can you handle this?"

The assassin momentarily looks at Add with his sharp blue eyes and nods quickly, his weapons already in his weapons and ready for use.

"I will do my best."

Glave starts to jog, and in the span of a single moment, his moving speed immediately becomes an absolute blur.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Glave chuckles, throwing multiple shards of pure, concentrated energy towards Ciel.

The assassin and the Keeper of the time-space continuum clash together and shards rocket out in each direction.

Ciel immediately widens his eyes and gasps as the sheer force behind Glave's attacks overwhelm him in a matter of seconds. Just one of the shards that Glave fires is enough to send Ciel flying backwards, even if he uses both of his Gunblades to absorb the damage. Knowing that he cannot win against Glave like this, he moves backwards and tries to keep his distance, firing magical shots at Glave in hopes of one of them causing at least some kind of damage. However, Glave's only reaction is amused laughter as the magical shots hit him and simply bounce right off. He thrusts his right hand forward and summons a massive, light blue sword to rocket out of the ground, attempting to skewer Ciel like a kebab.

With a swift backflip, Ciel dodges the giant sword and takes a few steps back.

As an experienced fighter, Ciel has the natural ability to understand his enemies with just one exchange of blows, and unlike Elsword he's aware that he cannot hope to kill Glave all by himself. Seeing just how limitless his power really is, Ciel even begins to doubt that the entire Elgang would be able to bring down someone as godlike as Glave. It's very clear to Ciel right now, Glave is simply toying with him to figure out what his own powers can actually do.

Glave waves his hand forward and materializes a giant figure made out of time shards. Ciel stares at the figure as it towers over him, and as it forms properly, the assassin gasps at it. It's a perfect copy of Berthe, the incredibly powerful beast the Elgang had fought back in Feita. The fake Berthe charges furiously at Ciel and throws a massive punch. Ciel ducks under the punch and watches as its sheer force completely breaks a boulder that was behind him.

_This Berthe made by Glave is even stronger than the original._ Ciel thinks to himself, running under the fake Berthe and kicking its chin. The beast falls back and growls in pain, its roar sending out an immense shockwave. Instead of trying to get close, Ciel simply summons his blue blaster and fires a huge particle shot from afar, obliterating the beast and breaking it down into shards again.

"Interesting," Glave mutters, observing happily as his creation crumbles down and disappears. "If I remember correctly, that beast had almost killed you and your friends when you first fought it. Your growth is quite intriguing."

"Stop playing with me." Ciel suddenly hisses at Glave, cutting off his speech. "If you're going to fight me, do it with all of your power.

Silence looms over Glave and Ciel, with the two of them simply glaring at each other. For a moment, Glave's smile disappears it and it seems like he's upset by what has been said to him, but the smile quickly retains itself and Glave chuckles.

"Alright then," Glave laughs with delight as he summons five more Berthes that land directly onto Ciel.

* * *

"Please, there has to be a way."

The Elgang are still stuck in Lanox, a region in Elrios that neither of them had ever heard of before. They had been teleported here by Glave so that they wouldn't be a nuisance to him, and now they're desperate to go back to Hamel.

"Please, we have to go back!" Lu pleads again, looking at Edan with sorrowful eyes, hoping that he will hear her out. "Ciel, Elsword, and Add are still there, we have to go and help them!"

Edan shakes his head once more, his arms folded and his glowing, yellow eyes holding a blank stare.

"Even if Hamel is under attack, we cannot go there nor can we spare any men. Besides, Hamel is on the other side of the world. If your friends are truly in trouble, then they'll all be dead by the time you reach there."

Edan simply isn't listening to anything that the Elgang has to say. Ignia stands next to him silently, her head lowered and a sorry expression on her face, as though she really feels the sadness that the others are. Eve begins to lose her cool as well, standing beside Lu and supporting her.

"They are our team members. They are our allies. We cannot just stand here and do nothing."

"Then go ahead and leave." Edan grumbles back, looking bored that they are still having this conversation. "But stop asking for horses or other modes of transportation, we can't spare any."

"Not even one horse?" Rena whispers, hugging herself anxiously.

"Not even one." Edan confirms.

The rest of the team stay silent, not bothering to speak up. Lu turns around and looks at the Elgang, her entire face red with anger.

"Aren't any of you going to say anything?!"

Chung and Raven are the only ones to look up, while Ara, Elesis and Aisha just look down at the ground, shaking and afraid. Lu stands there and waits for a response, and after many quiet moments, Raven finally heaves a heavy sigh and answers for the others.

"As much as I hate to say it, Edan is right. Elsword, Ciel and Add are in danger, but even if we left at this _exact_ moment, it might already be too late for them. And another thing, if we go back in there and fight Glave, we might all be wiped out."

"So we just stand here like fools and let them die?!"

"_No_," Raven suddenly snaps, rage glowing deeply in his eyes, causing a grim and ominous aura to emit from him and cause Lu to slowly shake. "We can only wait here and hope that they can handle it."

"And if they can't?" Eve questions instead of Lu, not intimidated by Raven's aura in the least.

Raven shakes his head.

"They can. I still don't know too much about Add or Ciel, but I know Elsword and just how strong his will is. He will succeed, I'm sure of it."

With doubt and fear in her eyes, Elesis finally steps forward and speaks too, but doesn't look properly at anyone.

"I feel the same way, Raven." She admits before lowering her head and holding tears back from rolling down her eyes. "But Elsword isn't himself right now…he has the Dark El inside him…"

"That only means that he's stronger now. We can only hope that he can control that power and defeat Glave with it."

Everyone falls into silence and think things through. None of them are feeling okay right now, and they're all on edge, so no sort of proper plan can reach their minds at this point in time. The only one that is still thinking straight is Ignia, who raises her hand slowly and stares at everyone in a shy manner.

"U-Um, I think I might know a solution."

Everyone pauses, freezes on the spot, and look directly at Ignia. That causes her to falter slightly, having everyone's eyes on her, but she slowly continues.

"Well, as a Priestess, I can sense other beings' energy and life force, meaning I can tell where someone is in the world."

"That doesn't help," Raven grumbles, shaking his head in disappointment. "We know exactly where Elsword, Add, and Ciel are. What we want to do is help them."

"But…I think I can do that."

"How?" Lu tilts her head, looking confused.

"Well basically, if I can pinpoint their location, I can use my magic to bring them here, right to Lanox."

"R-Really?!" Aisha bursts, a large smile finding its way onto her face.

The Elgang slowly all look relieved and glad, even Eve. Ignia nods her head and cracks her knuckles, getting ready to conjure up a spell.

"The only problem is that I'll need a lot of magic to materialize their bodies to our location. Aisha, you're a mage, right?"

"Yes, that's right." Aisha answers, clenching her staff.

"I'm going to need you to sit next to me while I do this, I'll need to borrow some of your energy."

Aisha hesitantly nods her head and they both sit on the ground.

This kind of situation is already causing Aisha's heart to race. Their only hope of saving Elsword and the others is through this method, but if Aisha doesn't give out enough energy then nothing will happen. She could feel the weight of this responsibility, and more than anything she wants to bring Elsword back to safety, she cannot even begin to imagine what might happen to him if he stays in Hamel for too long.

As Ignia and Aisha sit on the ground together and close their eyes, Raven folds his arms and turns to Elesis.

"Do you really think this will work?" He asks quietly.

"Hard to tell." Elesis whispers back, staring at the two mages sitting silently in front of them. She sighs and lowers her head. "I'm no expert in magic, I've only used a little bit of it so far."

"But do you think it's possible to teleport someone from somewhere as far as Hamel to here?"

"It's possible, I think. As long as there's enough energy behind it, magic can basically do anything. And whatever chance we have of keeping Elsword safe is something we _have_ to take."

Raven could tell it from the moment they were teleported to Lanox by Glave, Elesis is worried sick about her younger brother, but she's holding herself back from saying too much. If there's one thing she doesn't want to do is panic, but Raven recognizes that terrified look in her eyes, it's the same look he's had plenty of times himself.

Eve also seems to be doing the same thing. She hasn't said much, but she's constantly checking her holographic screens and searching for a signal from Add's Nasod Dynamos. An urge to talk to Eve and calm her down comes to Raven, but he ignores it. No words of pity or reassurance is needed from Eve, she needs to be left alone for now. What surprises Raven the most is how Eve is more worried about Add's health than Elsword's or Ciel's. Personally, Raven is worried equally the same, but that doesn't seem to be the case with the other members.

Chung stands quietly next to Ara, looking down at the ground. Ara herself has been concerned with Chung's feelings through all of this, so she carefully stands closer to him and speaks softly.

"How are you holding up, Chung?"

"I'm fine,"

"A-Are you sure? Because if you need anything, I'm right here-" Ara begins to stutter, being completely new to the whole reassuring business she's attempting to pull off.

"I'm just not strong enough. It bothers me."

"What are you talking about, Chung? We won, didn't we? The demons retreated!"

"Because the entire Elgang were there. By myself, Hamel would've fallen in ease. And now Glave's inside my kingdom, free to do whatever he wants. Just what kind of protector am I?"

"Everyone has their limits."

"I'm a Guardian, I'm not supposed to have any."

Ara faces Chung completely and shakes her head, carefully placing her left hand onto the chestplate of Chung's armour.

"No, you're Chung."

"H-Huh?"

"You're not some invincible Guardian for your people, you're Chung. Remember, we fought to protect Hamel because we're friends. There's nothing embarrassing about relying on your friends."

Chung turns his head and doesn't say anything else.

Ara takes her hand off of him and looks the other way too, wondering silently to herself whether or not her message will get across to him. For whatever reason, she really wants that to happen.

The Elgang stand in almost a perfect circle around Ignia and Aisha, who now both have their eyes completely closed and their minds cut off from their surroundings. Aisha takes a deep breath and feels the strange sensation of her magic being gradually absorbed by Ignia for the teleportation spell. It's not something Aisha has ever felt before, but it is not pleasant. The sensation is quite similar to having your natural energy or stamina drained after a long run, and Aisha feels her own body slightly become heavier and heavier. The thought of how long it will take for her to regenerate all of this magic being taken doesn't comfort Aisha either.

But she doesn't say anything or even cause any resistance against the absorption of her magic, all because of one simple reason, Elsword. Recently, he's become the most important thing in her life. She cares about all of the Elgang as well in her own way, but Elsword seems to fall into a different category of 'important' to her. Just the thought of seeing his silly, cheeky grin in a few moments makes her feel wonderful inside, but she couldn't ever admit something as embarrassing as that to anyone else in the Elgang, not even Rena.

A glowing, sigil-like circle materializes around Ignia as she has enough magic now to cast the spell.

"There…" Ignia mutters, frowning as she tries to give every last ounce of her concentration into the spell. "Now…I just have to find your friends…"

"Look for Hamel," Chung whispers, hoping that he hasn't broken Ignia's concentration. "That's where we last saw them."

"Hamel…" Ignia repeats back slowly, her hands reaching out into the air and grabbing nothing.

Then red light flashes directly in front of Ignia and blasts into the ground like a bolt of lightning. The earth beneath everyone shakes ominously but Ignia grins and finally opens her eyes again as she points to the red, flaming portal in the floor.

"Found them!" She cheers.

Elsword, Ciel and Add are thrown out of the red portal and it immediately dematerializes behind them. The three men collapse to the ground and say nothing, and the Elgang rush towards them quickly.

Eve carefully lifts Add's head off of the ground and turns him in her direction, her heart pounding excitedly.

But Add's eyes were closed and he was limp. He was breathing, but barely.

And that wasn't all, Elsword and Ciel were completely drenched in their own blood. Their clothes had been stained red because of their condition and one of Ciel's Gunblades had been snapped in half. Blood oozed slowly out of their eyes, ears, and cuts all over their bodies.

Glave had torn Elsword, Ciel and Add to shreds.


	82. No 65: A Painful Recovery

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* * *

"Bloody hell,"

Add grimaces and curses over and over again as the wounds on his arms get stitched up. Eve looks up at Add as she sows through his skin slowly and closes up the gaping cuts that are still bleeding.

"Stop complaining," said Eve. "You've gone through worse."

Add growls as Eve stitches up another wound. "You've been doing this for hours, the pain is just getting worse and worse."

Add and Eve are sitting inside a small hut that one of the landowners of Lanox had selflessly given to them. Once the stitching is finally done, Add pulls his sleeves over his arms and gets up from his chair. He still feels feeble and weak after their encounter with Glave back in Hamel. Glave had simply come out of nowhere and neither Elsword nor Ciel stood a chance.

"Damn that Glave." Add hisses with frustration as he leaves the hut. "He should be dead."

Eve follows the white-haired boy outside. "You said you killed him?"

"Yeah, but he's way stronger now and I don't know why."

"How did he come back to life?"

"Beats me. Glave mentioned something about getting help from a guy called 'Luto'. Does the name sound familiar?"

Eve thinks for a few moments but eventually shakes her head.

"I cannot find such a name in my database."

"Whoever he is, I want to punch him."

Eve rolls her eyes. "Very healthy."

"I'm serious." Add grumbles. "Every second that Glave breathes is irritating for me."

"More than anything, I'm just glad that you are safe." Eve speaks out without thinking.

Add pauses and turns around to look at Eve properly. He meets her gaze with a cocky grin and raised eyebrows.

"Heh, the Queen of Nasods is worried about me?"

Eve's eyes widen and she waves her hands out in front of her, with Moby and Remy moving wildly behind her.

"N-No!" Eve stutters, as though seemingly embarrassed. "I mean…I-I was worried about Elsword and Ciel too! D-Don't get the wrong ide-"

"You're cute." Add interrupts.

With just that comment from Add, Eve finds herself silent and her face burning up with heat. She takes a few steps away from Add and blinks a couple of times.

"W-What?"

Add laughs. "You're showing more emotions than I've ever seen you do before. It's pretty darn cute."

Eve eventually folds her arms and breaks away her gaze from him.

"Do not mock the leader of the Nasod race."

Add simply shakes his head and smiles. "As your majesty commands."

Standing side-by-side, Add and Eve walk over to the other two huts just down the street from them. Massive factories loomed in the distance and the sounds of metals clashing against each other were always echoing around them. It doesn't seem to bother the rest of the Elgang, but it's slowly beginning to annoy Add. Not to mention, the walls around the area are constantly soaked with oil, dust, and other unsanitary substances. This entire village is just one big factory and Add is not fond of it.

Outside the two huts is a bench. Add looks over and sees both Elesis and Chung sitting down and decides to join them. Neither of them have any emotion on their face, they simply look deadpan.

"Hey," Add mutters as he walks over to them. "What's with the long face?"

Chung looks over and smiles. "Add!"

"Yeah, that's my name."

"You're okay…" Chung sighs in relief. "That's good."

"Am I the first to wake up?"

"Yes." says Chung while looking at the ground. "Elsword and Ciel still haven't woken up yet."

"Well, that sucks."

Elesis finally looks up and speaks. "Add, what _happened_ in Hamel? Why did all of this happen?"

"Glave attacked. I thought you knew already."

"But Glave has never shown interest in wanting to _kill _us. We've never been his targets."

"I don't know. Why don't you ask Glave the next time you see him?" Add answers back sarcastically.

But he already knows the answer to that question. It isn't something that Add hasn't been able to figure out. Glave came to Hamel and attacked because he was targeting Add and wanted to make a distraction for the rest of the team. He battled both Elsword and Ciel in order to get to Add, but thankfully they had escaped before Glave could kill him.

"That reminds me," Add continues after a long pause. "We were teleported to this place before Glave could kill any of us. How'd you do it?"

"There's a Priestess living here in Lanox. She casted a spell to bring you here." answers Chung.

"What's a Priestess?"

"A female mage with tremendous amounts of magic." Elesis explains. "You haven't heard of them? They're practically legends around Elrios."

Add shakes his head. He won't ever refer to someone as a 'legend' if they use something as strange and unscientific as magic.

"Say, where's your boyfriend?" asks Add.

"My…b-boyfriend?!" Elesis suddenly squeaks, almost falling off the bench.

"Yeah, that Draco guy."

"D-Draco isn't my boyfriend."

"Sure," Add snorts. "So, where is he?"

"I'm not sure. After we came to Lanox, he's been wandering around and hasn't spoken a word to anyone."

"He's not the guy to talk much anyway," mutters Add. "But what about the others?"

Chung scratches the back of his head. "Aisha is attending to Elsword and Lu is watching over Ciel. As for the others, they've gone with a guy called 'Edan' to find out more about this area."

"I hope so, I still have no idea where the hell we are." Add grumbles.

"Your Dynamos can't track our location?"

Add pauses. No one knows that he doesn't really have control over the Nasod Dynamos anymore. For now, he should try to keep it that way.

"Nope."

"Darn."

Add glances back at Elesis one more time before heading away. "Tell me when those two wake up."

Elesis nods but does not respond. She's incredibly anxious, it's clear for Add to see.

Eve and Add walk over back to their hut but stop in front of the door. Eve puts one hand in between Add and the door and shakes her head.

"Before you go inside, we need to talk." She speaks in a serious tone.

"About what?"

"About what's happened to you. You're not yourself."

"What are you talking about? I'm the guy I've always been."

"No, you're only acting like it. I've already begun to notice the differences. Your false smiles, the sudden change of colour in your eyes, this…weird armour that's covering you….something happened to you when you travelled to the past and I want to know what."

Add growls and faces the other way.

"It's not important, alright? All you care about is saving your race and killing demons, why do you have to act like an overprotective parent now?"

Eve takes a step back and feels a sharp pain in her chest. Was that pain because of what he said? Does he really not think she worries about him? In all honesty, she's not sure why she's so worried either, but there's an urge inside her that demands that she looks after Add. It's not something she can properly explain nor something that Add would understand, so instead she simply smiles at Add.

"Add." Eve speaks softly. "Please, just tell me. I want to help."

An old memory flashes into Add's mind. The memory back in Feita where Add had momentarily lost control on his emotions and cried in front of Eve. She had promised to help him ever since that time, but he still hasn't trusted her with that much. He takes in a deep breath and sighs, he has no idea why his feelings become exposed whenever he's around Eve, and it irritates him.

Esper begins to chuckle inside Add's head.

_Oh dear. Does sweet, little Add have a crush on a Nasod?_

Add shakes his head. No. He's never had those kinds of feelings for her, or at least, he doesn't think so. It's just…ever since he stopped seeing her as just a robotic mechanism, he's been confused about what he thinks about her. She's part of the Elgang, sure, but what is she to him now?

He's not interested in researching her anymore, and she seems closer to him than any of the other members of the Elgang. Hell, she's practically the only person in the whole team that he actually feels comfortable around.

Add scratches the back of his head with annoyance. Is he really beginning to like a Nasod?

_How scandalous._

With another sigh, Add decides to answer in the best way that he can manage.

"I went back to the past to save my family. It turned out that I only travelled back to an alternate universe where they were never in danger, and I lost it a bit."

"A bit?"

"Well, okay, maybe a lot. And because of that, I _might_ have gone a little crazy and killed Glave."

"You killed Glave?" asks Eve with scepticism.

"Yeah, with my time-space abilities it wasn't all that difficult."

"And? Is there anything else?"

Add feels himself hesitate. She trusts him. She actually trusts him. It doesn't make sense to Add why Eve would ever trust him, but for whatever reason she's choosing to. The ominous feeling of someone crawling through the back of Add's head begins to make itself more apparent. The other person inside Add wants to come out for a while and take control of the wheel now.

_C'mon, aren't you going to tell her? Let her know about me. I'm sure she'll understand._

No, she wouldn't understand. She wouldn't believe something like that. All Eve would do is assume that Add is making up some kind of excuse for killing innocent people, she won't believe that there's another person inside of him.

_Well, technically, she would be right. I'm not different from you, Add. I'm just the you who isn't afraid to do what he wants. You're Esper, too._

Add decides against saying anymore.

Instead, he shakes his head and gives Eve one of his signature grins. He walks around her and enters the hut.

"Nope, that's it." he says. "There's nothing else worth mentioning."

Eve frowns. "Well, alright. Do you want…to talk about it?"

"About what? My family?"

"Yes."

"Thanks, but no thanks. More than anything, I just want to forget about it."

"Okay,"

Once Add sees that Eve is not going to accompany him back into the hut, he closes the door behind him and wanders over to his bed. Already, the stitches on his arm are losing their amount of pain being inflicted onto him. He's surprised that Eve did such a good job on it.

_She really cares about you. Isn't that just…delicious?_

Add grimaces as he hears Esper's voice again. Previously, he would only hear Esper's voice every now and then, but there's no denying that somehow he's becoming more and more active inside Add's head.

_You can't keep me locked away forever, Addie-boy._

Add growls angrily.

"Shut up, please."

_Oh, come on now. You know you love me._

"I don't, now get out of my head."

_Please, you don't want me to leave. I'm the best company you've ever had._

"You're so annoying."

_You know what's weird about this? You're technically having a conversation with yourself right now._

"You're not me. You're a maniac that killed my whole family."

_Wow, look at mister sensitive over here. At least I gave them quick deaths, right?_

"You crushed a child's head in your hand."

_Okay, in my defence, that head was asking to get crushed._

Add closes his eyes and tries to breathe normally again. Just the thought of what Esper had done in that village was terrifying and the images are still fresh inside Add's mind. With Esper's power, he had blown up the entire village and killed his own family. He watched as hundreds of people burned up to a crisp and somehow, he didn't feel a thing.

"Their screams…" Add whispers to himself, his hands over his mouth. "I can still hear them…"

_I know, right? It's like a lullaby. I can't get enough of it._

Add lies down on his bed and buries his face into his pillow. "How can you be this way, Esper?"

_Be in what way?_

"How can you be so…sadistic?"

_I'm not sadistic. Suffering is not what I want._

"Then…what do you want?"

_Destruction, my dear Add. Look around you. See those walls, see the floor beneath your feet? Everything that you're looking at, I want it to burn to the ground. This entire reality buried under my foot. Ashes to ashes._

"I won't let you."

_Does it frighten you, Add? Are you afraid because you know that one day I'm going to take over and kill all of your friends? If it makes you feel any better, I won't spend too long with each of their deaths; maybe I'll just vaporize them in one shot? How does that sound?_

"You won't lay a finger on them."

_Of course not. You will. We're the same person, dummy._

Add momentarily cuts off Esper's voice and does his best to ignore him.

Just hearing that side of him talk is enough to make him feel unnerved. And the worst part about it is he isn't even sure if Esper is even real anyway. Is Esper really a being in his mind, or is Esper just someone that Add made up to deal with his grief?

Add frowns.

No, there's no way something like Esper can just be his imagination. Esper is real and he is waiting for the perfect opportunity to come out. But as long as Add can find a way to keep resisting, things will be just fine. He just has to make sure not to give in to Esper ever again.

But that brings up an important question in Add's mind, why is he resisting? He has always told himself that he doesn't care about the Elgang, but when Esper was threatening to kill them, Add suddenly became so protective over them. Originally, Add had joined the Elgang just to research Eve, but now that he isn't interested in that kind of research, why is still hanging around these people? Does he actually care about them?

All this time he thought that wasn't the case, but now he knows things are different. Elsword and his stupid, cheeky grin. Rena and her gentle and supportive personality. Raven and his firm yet understanding attitude. Aisha and her noisiness. Chung and his timid actions. Ara and her upbeat mood. Elesis and her reassuring strength. Lu and Ciel's interesting personalities.

And Eve.

He thought he could do without these people, but Add realizes now that he's become fond of them. He doesn't want to travel alone. He wants to stick around with these people, these people who somehow make life bright and enjoyable every day.

But the solution to Add's problem would be forcing him to throw that all away. If Add runs away _right_ now, at this very moment, he can avoid being associated with them and none of them will come in harm's way. As long as Add remains in the action, he's literally a ticking time bomb. If at any time things go south for the Elgang, Add will be forced to ask Esper for help and as a result, Esper will be allowed to do whatever he pleases. Without Esper's help, Add is just an ordinary human now. He gave up all of his abilities to Esper in order to save himself and his friends from death. He's useless to the Elgang and just a danger now, so if he just runs…he can save all of them.

Add gets up from his bed and steps out the door, being careful to check if Eve is around. She isn't.

The stale air of Lanox hits Add immediately as he steps outside. He glances around and sees no one nearby. There's a small road heading to the west just down a factory close to the hut, Add can simply stroll on over there and run for it. By the time Eve or the others have noticed his disappearance, Add would already be out of the area of Lanox and free to hide somewhere until they give up their search.

Add takes one step forward towards his escape.

And stops.

He can't do it. He simply cannot find the strength to do it.

Eve's gentle smile flashes in Add's mind and he growls. He just can't leave them like this. He's grown attached to them and he cannot find a way to break apart. He curses at himself and tries again, but to no avail. At the very bottom of his core, he just does not want to leave the Elgang.

Why? Why can't he just abandon them?

What has the Elgang become to Add?

_A family, that's what._

Add falls to his knees and feels the urge to just punch himself. This isn't about him. This is about the Elgang's safety, they're not safe around him.

_But you don't care, do you? As long as you're happy, you don't care about the danger you pose to them._

Without warning, tears begin to roll down Add's cheeks. He screams out in frustration but the scream is completely blocked out by Esper's amused laughter.

_Poor Add. You become so attached to the wrong people._

* * *

Falling.

Ciel felt like he was falling, spiralling out of control down a waterfall.

He felt like he was drowning, that the whole world was trying to end him by drowning him with water.

A hand reached for him, a very small hand, and Ciel held it and watched as someone pulled him out. He stared at his saviour as tears gathered up in his eyes.

Just as expected, the one who saved him from drowning was her. It was…

"Lu…" Ciel whispers quietly as he gradually wakes up. "Lu, Lu…"

His eyes open up slowly and he coughs. It feels like he was having a terrible nightmare, but he cannot recall it now anymore.

As he fully opens his eyes and looks to his right, he's greeted by the bright and perfect smile of Lu as she throws her arms around him and squeezes him tight.

"Ciel…" Lu whispers. "You're okay…"

"Ouch," Ciel chuckles as he hugs her back. "My body's still a little sore, Lu."

Apologetically, Lu lets go of him and nods her head. Ciel nods back and carefully tries to sit up, and while his back stings agonizingly, he finally leans onto the front of his bed and sits properly. He looks down at himself, he's not wearing a shirt, but Lu doesn't seem to notice that at all.

But thanks to having no shirt on, Ciel gets to take a good look at the scars all over his body. The cuts are pink and highlighted with leftover blood still on them, these wounds are fresh and it'll take a while for them to fully heal. More painful than anything though is Ciel's headache, it feels like he had just hit his head against a concrete wall.

"Where are my clothes?" he asks.

"In the wash. They were, well, too soaked with blood to keep on you."

"Damn. Well, has Elsword or Add woken up yet?"

"I heard that Add woke up an hour ago, but Elsword's still out."

"Yeah, that's to be expected." Ciel mutters as he gets out of bed and stands up to see that he's only got loose shorts on him. "He _did _take the worst beatings out of the three of us. I don't know why Glave targeted him first."

"He's absolutely insane, maybe he didn't have a reason at all?" Lu suggests, walking over to the other side of the room and tossing Ciel a spare, white shirt.

"Maybe," Ciel whispers, sounding unconvinced. "But, how did we get here? In fact…where is _here? _Are we still in Hamel?"

"Nope, we're in Lanox."

"What the heck is a Lanox?"

"No clue." Lu admits with a giggle.

Ciel slides the shirt on and tries to struggle around in it. It's a little too small for him, just too cramped for it to be considered comfortable.

"So, how did we get here?" he asks.

"Some sort of spell by Aisha and a girl called Ignia."

"Glad you did. I doubt we would've survived otherwise."

"That reminds me," Lu hums as she snaps her fingers and immediately changes her white pyjamas into her elegant, blue dress. "Why were you there?"

Ciel glances at Lu, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Why were you in the fight against Glave and the others?"

"Elsword and Add were in danger, I had to step in and fight too."

Lu shakes her head and walks over to Ciel, placing her small hands onto his chest. She feels his heartbeat and smiles before looking at him, dead in the eyes.

"Ciel, we may be part of this team, but we do _not_ risk our lives for them. Did you even know if you could defeat Glave?"

"No."

"Exactly. And what do you think would've happened if you died? Where would that leave me?"

"You could always find another bodyguard, right?"

Lu grumbles and buries her head into his chest, feeling his pulsating muscles wriggle on her forehead. Tears had almost formed in her eyes, but she quickly blinks them away so that Ciel does not see them. Instead, she whispers quietly to him.

"Don't you get it? I can't replace you, you idiot."

Ciel is taken aback by those words but doesn't say anything. Instead, he gives her a quick hug, then pats her softly on her head.

"Well, good news, you won't have to. I might get into risky situations, but I'm not clueless."

Lu's expression immediately turns into a smug grin. "Good."

Ciel looks around the room, from his bed to the wardrobe, but he feels like something is missing. Ever since the second he woke up, he's had the feeling that something important isn't with him. After a few moments, it comes to him.

"Lu, where are my Gunblades?"

Lu's smile fades. "Well, one of them is outside."

"And the other?"

"The other is…well…unusable."

"You mean…broken?"

"Y-Yes."

Ciel's heart almost stops when he hears that. Those Gunblades were a part of him, and the last time he had seen them, they had both been in one piece.

"Who did it? Who broke them?"

"I'm guessing Glave, since one of them was already broken when we teleported you here."

"Where is the broken one?"

Lu sighs and moves over to his bed and reaches her tiny arm under it, and after a few seconds of blind groping, she finds the Gunblade and slides it out from under the bed. Ciel takes it out of her hand and stares at it.

It's as clear as day, there's a massive crack right in the middle of it, and the gap in between it is large enough for Ciel to almost see what is inside of the weapon. He gasps and finds himself sitting back on the bed, feeling as though he can no longer stand. Lu carefully sits next to him and places her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Lu mutters, watching as Ciel glares at his broken Gunblade with a blank expression. "There's nothing we can do."

"This Gunblade…" Ciel whispers quietly, clutching the weapon. "was irreplaceable. I'll never find one like it."

"How did you even get them? You never told me the story behind them."

Ciel takes in a deep breath and lowers his head, as the fond memories slowly turn into a nightmare that he has to recall.

"In the criminal world, all I ever used was a simple knife." Ciel explains, closing his eyes. "It was given to me by Brian, my mentor."

"Brian? You never mentioned him."

"Yeah, well, he's dead."

"Oh,"

"Anyway," Ciel continues. "One day, we both heard a rumour that a legendary weapon had been found by a rich explorer and was just sitting in his collection."

"So you decided to steal it?"

"Steal is a strong word." Ciel hesitates.

"Then what did you do?"

Ciel lowers his head in embarrassment. "We stole it."

"Thought so."

"Well, it _was _a legendary weapon that no man had touched in at least a thousand years, so obviously we wanted to have it. We snuck into the household of the explorer, hoping to just go undetected, but it turned out he had security men scattered across every room. In the end, we had to fight our way to the explorer's collection room."

"How many men did you have to kill?"

"A lot," Ciel admits with the sound of regret in his voice. "Including the explorer and his wife."

"Them? Why?"

"Because once we killed all the security guards, the two of them stood right in front of the door and refused to move, telling both Brian and I that assassins would never get their hands on it."

"So you killed them."

"Remember," Ciel speaks out in his own defence. "I was just a lowly assassin at the time. If someone ever became a problem, I'd just kill them. That's all I knew."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me." Lu smiles calmly, giving Ciel a pat on the back. "Keep going."

"Right, so once we had killed everyone in the house, we strolled into the collection room and took the weapons for ourselves. It turned out they were Gunblades, and both Brian and I immediately fell in love with them."

"Wait," Lu interrupts the story, looking slightly confused. "If you and this 'Brian' collected the Gunblades, how come _you_ came to be their owner?"

"We decided between us who should wield them, of course."

"How'd you decide that?"

Ciel grinned. "Rock, paper, scissors."

"You're kidding me,"

"Nope."

"You decided who should use two legendary weapons by playing a game of rock, paper, scissors?"

"A very _intense_ game of rock, paper, scissors."

Both Lu and Ciel pause complete, then look at each other, and then burst into laughter.

They laugh and laugh, and Ciel feels his worries slowly fade away. He'll definitely miss his Gunblade and now there's small part of him missing, but as long as he has Lu, he's certain that nothing can really upset him. Besides, he still has one functional Gunblade and the Blue Blaster from Lu's power at his disposal.

Interrupting their session of laughter, the door to the hut opens up and Raven steps inside without warning. Instinctively, Ciel immediately stops laughing and stands up, looking at Raven's scarred face and his piercing eyes. It looks like Raven hasn't had much rest at all, but once seeing Ciel open and conscious, his firm glare softens slightly.

"Ciel," Raven mutters, a calm smile finding itself on his face. "It's good to see you awake."

"Thanks,"

"How do you feel?"

"A little weak, but pain is already dampened."

"That's good to hear," Raven sighs, rubbing his tired eyes.

"You don't look so good yourself, Raven."

Raven frowns. "I've been spending all day talking to the leader of Lanox, Edan. There's a lot of stuff I need to tell the team."

"Why not just tell us now?"

"No," Raven shakes his head. "We'll wait for Elsword to wake up first. It's our top priority."

"How is he looking?"

"From Aisha's description? He was bleeding from practically everywhere when we teleported you all here, Glave most definitely did a number on him, but Aisha let us know that she's stopped the bleeding and patched him up. Now, it's just a matter of him waking up."

"Any idea how long that'll take?"

"No clue." Raven admits with a sigh. "Unfortunately, there aren't any medics in Lanox."

"That reminds me, do you know where Lanox even is in Elrios?"

"Thankfully, Edan explained it to me." Raven nods. "We're far across the borders of Hamel, Lanox is incredibly far away from the other regions."

"How far are we talking?"

"Well, if we wanted a caravan ride back to Bethma, for example, it would be a five day ride."

"Damn."

"Yeah," Raven grumbles. "And the other things I've heard aren't any better. Anyway, for now, just try to get some rest."

Ciel nods. "Sure,"

Raven turns towards the door and places his hand on the door handle, but hesitates as he stares at the object that had been in Ciel's hands the whole time.

"Oh yeah, we've also got a pretty good blacksmith here in Lanox, so if anyone can have a shot at fixing your Gunblade, it's them."

Ciel's face brightens up slightly. "Thanks, I'll look into it."

Raven nods and leaves the hut. Ciel looks down at his broken Gunblade and sighs, Lanox will have to have one of the best blacksmiths in Elrios to even stand a chance of repairing something like his weapon, but just a little glimmer of hope is enough for now.

Lu grins and points towards the closed door as she finally fixes up her hair. Her blue eyes sparkling and her smile never failing to make the same kind of smile on Ciel's own face.

"Well, shall we go?" She giggles.

"Yeah,"

They move towards the door and Ciel opens it up for Lu, they step outside together, but when Ciel looks back at Lu's face, she's no longer smiling for some reason. He raises an eyebrow and pats her on the head.

"What's wrong, Lu?"

Silently, Lu glares at Ciel for a few moments and her expression is unreadable. When it finally changes, it's a surprised and worried kind of expression to wear.

"Ciel…" She whispers with a crack in her voice.

"Yes?"

"I hadn't noticed it until now…but…"

"What is it?"

**"****Your hair is completely white now."**


	83. No 66: The Flaming Forest

**Sorry for the wait, thank you for being patient!**

**Special thanks to SVFFR, reaper27, Zalkiere, specterwolf3, highpokefan, Emperor's Ally, Luna Yumizuki, silverstar456, CherryPuffball, and Preneli for following/favouring this story!**

**You are super awesome and I love you! Cx**

**And to answer a guest's question since I cannot reply normally: In terms of LuCiel's unfamiliarity with Lanox, that's been changed from the canon so that it makes sense in _this_ story C:**

**Now, for the chapter!**

**Feedback is always welcome~! C:**

* * *

Ciel looks into the mirror again and sighs.

There's no doubt about it now, the contract between him and Lu is affecting him physically. As he glances at the mirror over and over, hoping what he's seeing will change, the truth becomes clear.

His hair is now completely white. Ciel was aware from long ago that his hair was turning white, it happened back when Ciel pushed himself beyond his limits when fighting Hamel's war, but he had never put much thought into it. Now, it seems like it's the only thing he can think and worry about. The contract's terms had always been clear, he would become a half-demon and stand by Lu's side, but the contract never stated anything about his actual body changing.

When Lu had noticed, Ciel had done his best to reassure her, telling her that he feels fine and that she's overreacting. But the truth is, the reason behind this might be more serious than he had previously thought.

_What if he was slowly becoming a full demon?_

That thought frightens him. There will never be a day when he'll be willing to give up all of his humanity. Even though he's currently a half-demon, that means he still has _some _humanity intact, but what if he loses that? Will he act differently? Will he see the world differently?

Ciel sighs again and turns away from the mirror. It's not like he can do anything about it now. He might as well just let this slow transformation take its course. If the changes start to become a problem, he'll worry about it then.

Ciel leaves the tent and sees everyone gathered around, sitting on logs or whatever could operate as a chair. They definitely look better than when they arrived at Lanox, their smiles have returned and they look hopeful. That's a nice change.

Elsword had woken up a few hours ago, but is already sitting beside everyone. And considering what kind of state he was in, Ciel notes that Elsword must be naturally fast at recovery.

Sitting down with the rest of the Elgang, beside Lu, Raven nods his head and folds his arms.

"Alright then, now that everyone is here, I can finally talk about what I've found." he mutters.

"Is it bad news?" Ara asks.

"It can be seen that way, I suppose. I talked to Edan and from what I've heard, this place is on the outskirts of Elrios. We've never been this far away from the rest of the world before."

"But what about the fact that none of us have heard of this place before?" Chung asked.

Raven lowers his head. "That's where the bad part comes in. Lanox was the first area of Elrios to be attacked by the demons, and it's where most of their forces are focused."

Chung frowns. "And?"

"And because this place is basically swarming with demons, the rest of Elrios abandoned it. They removed Lanox from the World Map and just assumed that the demons had completely taken control of the land."

"But that's not the case." Chung notes, his eyebrows furrowed. "People are still here."

"Yeah, but they've been abandoned. Neither the Royal Army nor the Red Knights respond to Lanox's plead for assistance because almost everyone believes that Lanox is a lost cause."

"That's ridiculous." Elesis cuts in, her eyes radiating with anger. "_I'm_ part of the Red Knights, why didn't I hear about this?"

Raven looks surprised. "No one told you?"

"No. I never even heard about Lanox until we got here. If I had known that Lanox needed assistance, I would've come over here immediately."

Raven glances at the ground, looking almost as confused as Elesis. Elsword decides to step into the conversation.

"That's pretty bad on its own," Elsword mutters, fidgeting uncomfortably in the bandages wrapped around almost all of his body. "But we're here now, and we can do something about it, right?"

Aisha nods her head. "Exactly. Even if the rest of Elrios has abandoned Lanox, we won't."

Raven chuckles and nods back in concurrence.

"I knew you'd say that. That's why I arranged to head out of this area and into the depths of Lanox with Edan today, so you'd better be ready."

Everyone nods and look ready for some more battles, but Elesis shakes her head and moves towards Elsword.

"Fine, but Elsword stays here, at the camp." Elesis says.

Elsword immediately gets off his seat and stands up, looking into his sister's eyes without hesitation.

"No way, I'm coming too."

"Elsword, you're still injured."

"I'm fine. Aisha healed me up, I'm just a little sore.

"Elsword, no."

"I'm coming along."

"You _can't_ come."

"Why?"

Elesis loses her temper and growls. _"Because you're unstable!"_

Elsword pauses. Everyone remains silent. Elesis herself realizes what she's said and calms down, looking regretful.

After a few silent moments, Elsword nods his head slowly, as though he understands.

"I get it," he whispers. "You don't trust me anymore. Now that the Dark El has merged with me, I'm dangerous, right?"

Elesis cannot agree with Elsword, but at the same time cannot find herself denying what he's saying.

Add raises his hand reluctantly and sighs. "I'll stay behind with him."

"Why?" Eve asks.

"My Dynamos aren't responding to me, remember? I'm useless to you guys right now."

"Right…"

A long pause follows.

Elsword sits back down and doesn't say another word. With tears in her eyes and her throat sore, Elesis walks away to grab her equipment. This is all overwhelming for Ciel to watch, the peacefulness of the Elgang didn't last long at all. He glances at Lu as he walks into their tent and puts his jacket on, she doesn't seem bothered by the current events at all, but that's no surprise to him at this point. Drama between the Elgang is the last thing on her mind.

As they both step out of the tent, Ciel remembers something Raven had told him a few days ago.

"Lu, wait here." He mutters, and Lu nods back.

Ciel moves back up and into the industrial area of Lanox. Raven had told Ciel that an incredibly skilled blacksmith lives here and might be able to repair Ciel's broken Gunblade. If that's really true, then Ciel's prayers have been answered.

In the most hot and humid part of Lanox, Ciel finally spots an area with different kinds of crafting materials around. It looks like this is where the blacksmith is, but he doesn't see anyone around. Ciel frowns, if this is the blacksmith's day off or something, then it'll just show how bad his luck really is.

"Hey, down here." A small, quiet voice speaks to Ciel.

Ciel glances around but doesn't see anyone.

"Did someone just say something?"

"I said look down, idiot."

Ciel looks downwards and sees a tiny girl standing in front of him, so short that he didn't even notice her. She has blonde hair in pigtails and heavy armour strapped to her body.

Somehow, she's even smaller than Lu.

"Um, hey." Ciel mumbles. "I'm looking for Lanox's blacksmith, you wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"

"You're looking right at her." the girl says back, confidently.

"Y-You?"

"Yeah, that's right. What about it?"

Ciel clears his throat. Lanox seems to just be getting stranger by the minute.

"I was wondering if this could be repaired." Ciel says as he holds out one of his Gunblades.

The young, tiny blacksmith takes the Gunblade away from Ciel and inspects it carefully, looking at it from every angle. It takes a few moments, but the blacksmith finally begins to speak.

"Hmm." She hums. "This is a very valuable piece. It has some kind of magical essence radiating out of it too. Where'd you get it?"

Ciel looks away. "Um, from an old friend."

The blacksmith glances at him with a sceptical expression but doesn't ask further, her eyes now glued to the broken Gunblade. She whispers a few things to herself and shakes her head a couple of times. Ciel starts to become worried.

"C-Can it be fixed?" Ciel asks.

The blacksmith places the Gunblade onto an anvil. "Well, it's a little more complicated than that?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, I've been working on weapons my entire life. I've forged weapons, repaired them, or worked on them with my father. So, as you can imagine, I've got plenty of experience…but…"

"But…?"

The little blacksmith sighs. "I've _never _worked on a magical weapon before."

"But that means-"

"Yeah, it means I _can_ repair it, but the magical properties of it may be lost forever."

Ciel suddenly feels his heart drop. What made the Gunblades different from ordinary weapons was its ability to charge up magic and unleash sharp projectiles. If that ability is lost, then his Gunblade would simply become a normal weapon again.

How can he serve Lu with only one operating Gunblade?

The little blacksmith looks at Ciel and notices his disappointment. After a few seconds, she decides to give him a reassuring smile.

"Hey, don't worry about it too much. I said your weapon _might_ lose its magical properties. Who knows, maybe it'll be as good as new once I put it back together."

"What are the chances of that?" Ciel asks.

The little blacksmith pauses and thinks for a couple of moments.

"Um, maybe a fifty-fifty chance? I'm not sure."

"Oh," Ciel mutters, looking down at the ground. Eventually, he nods his head and smiles. "Thank you, Miss…?"

"Steel," The blacksmith smiles. "Just call me Steel."

"Okay, Steel. So, how much will the repair cost."

"Nothing," Steel answers.

"Huh? You mean you'll do it for free?"

"Well, actually, I was thinking of a different kind of payment. You're one of those adventurers, aren't you?"

"Yes, I suppose."

"Good. You see, my father fell prey to the demons within Lanox for some time now. I've been waiting for him to come back, but he never has. If you can find him…I would really appreciate it."

Ciel frowns. More than anything, he hates making promises. If he cannot keep it, then things get difficult. And he's supposed to focus solely on serving Lu, not on a hunt for another blacksmith that's been taken by demons.

But as Ciel looks at Steel's small, cute, and desperate face, he knows that refusing is not an option.

_Damn my weakness for cute things._ Ciel thinks to himself.

"Alright, I'll do my best. If I can find your father, I'll be sure to bring him back."

Steel's face lights up. "Thank you!"

"Not a problem."

Ciel leaves the hopeful blacksmith and joins back up with the Elgang. Everyone is packed and ready, but Elsword silently walks into the tents, knowing that he won't be allowed to come no matter what.

Lu stands there with her arms folded, looking incredibly impatient.

"Where have you been?! You took forever!" she grumbles.

"Apologizes, Lu. I had to talk to the blacksmith for a while."

"What did they say?"

Ciel sighs. "They said that there's almost a fifty-fifty chance the Gunblade won't have any magic in it once it's repaired.

Lu lowers her head and nods slowly.

"That would put you at a disadvantage. Got any plans?"

"None yet." Ciel admits.

Without any more delays, Raven stands at the front of the group and makes sure that everyone has their equipment and their weapons. Ciel walks slowly beside Lu, still worried that he won't be nearly as helpful now as before. They're heading into unknown territory once again, but this time without one of their team members.

"Alright then," Raven mutters, looking out into the scorching distance. "Let's move out."

* * *

Chung curses under his breath as he fires down a stray demon in the shape of a dog with his Silver Shooter. The dog-like demon goes down in one hit and it seems like it was alone.

"What's going on?" Chung asks. "Where are all the demons? I thought you said that the demons here were unbelievably powerful."

Raven frowns. "That's what I was told, but you're right. These demons are tiny and there are barely any of them around."

The entire Elgang remain confused as they step deeper into the forest, the same forest that Edan had said was crawling with extremely dangerous demons.

The Elgang don't see it.

Probably the only thing that Edan said that was actually accurate about the forest was that it was on fire. Flames dance around the scenery and the team make sure not to get too close to the burning trees or the scorching bushes. This forest was considered haunted by the people of Lanox, as the forest burnt infinitely and never died out.

Eve frowns and looks slightly frustrated. "This makes no sense."

"What doesn't?" Raven asks.

"My scanners have analysed all of the trees in this vicinity, all of them are normal. There's nothing different about these trees, yet somehow they're on fire but never turn to ashes."

"It's a little spooky." Ara admits.

"A powerful fire that never dies out, huh?" Draco notes with a grin on his face, showing interest in the area. "I could learn a thing or two about these demons and their abilities."

"There has to be some kind of demon here causing this." Raven comments. "A demon that can use magic."

"But all of the demons here are weak." Chung sighs.

As the Elgang quietly speak to each other and try to make sense of this strange, forever-burning forest, Draco moves away from them and towards the burning trees. His eyes fixed on them. His mind somewhere else.

These last few days, Draco had been in deep thought. From the beginning, his objective was to kill Elsword, yet these past few weeks he had been doing nothing but helping him and his team. Just what the hell was he doing?

The anger that had been ignited within his heart by the Greater Ones hasn't died out, but he's found himself working and co-operating with the Elgang. Hell, even Elsword's sister has recently become rather clingy to him.

Draco shakes his head, no.

No, his conscious is clear.

Elsword is still his enemy, but he has become dangerously powerful now that he possesses the power of the Dark El. Draco needs to remain with the Elgang and with Elesis for a little bit longer, just until he can find a way to surpass Elsword and kill him without anyone noticing.

He just needs to focus on the task and-

"Draco?" Elesis whispers as she approaches him. "What are you doing over here? We're moving forward."

"Ah," he mumbles back. "Sorry, I was daydreaming."

"You've been doing that a lot lately."

"Yeah,"

"Do you have something important on your mind?"

_I want to kill your brother just to find peace within myself._ Draco thinks inside his head.

Yeah, sure.

If he had told her the truth, she would've killed him right on the stop.

"No, nothing important."

Elesis stares for a few seconds. "…well, okay. Then let's keep moving."

Through the forest they encounter a few more demons here and there, hiding within the shadows, but a single bullet from Chung or an electric shock from Eve's drones are enough to kill them without effort.

Eve's hazel eyes glow brightly for a bit then return back to normal.

"I'm not detecting any more signs of life, that was the last of them."

"Seriously?" Elesis asks with widened eyes. "We've killed _all_ the demons in the area?"

"Yes."

Raven shakes his head. "No, something has to be causing all this fire."

"Maybe it's Draco," Lu snickers sarcastically.

Draco shakes his head and answers back seriously. "Nope, as much as I hate to admit it, something with a _lot_ more firepower has to be doing this."

"Um…guys…?" Aisha stutters as she glances into the distance. "You said that there aren't any more demons, right…?"

"Yes," Eve answers. "Why?"

"Then…what is _that?!"_

The Elgang look in the same direction that Aisha's trembling finger is pointed at.

And their eyes all widen and their bodies fill with shock as a female Centaur charges towards them, her red hair on fire and multiple demons following obediently behind her. Not once in their lives have any of them actually seen one of these creatures, but they have now.

The female Centaur reaches the Elgang and glares at them silently, her burning eyes inspecting them closely, one-by-one.

"Don't. Move." Raven whispers to the team, but they're all already frozen on the spot.

But that trick is useless against the Centaur. She roars out furiously and the flames on her body erupt and grow. The top part of her body is incredibly similar to a human's, and she's even quite beautiful, but the bottom part of her is a massive horse. The team all stare at her in confusion, not sure what to make of this new demon.

The Centaur finally decides to attack.

She forms up powerful flames and creates a giant bow out of them, charging it up with immense force.

"On the second thought," Raven growls as the flaming arrow points directly at them. "_Attack!_"

Raven is the first person to leap forward into the battle, but by the time he does the flaming arrow is already charged and hits him straight in the chest, causing him to crash into the ground with only one strike from the Centaur.

Ciel holds one Gunblade with his left hand and the Blue Blaster with the right, then glances at Lu and watches her summon her demonic claws.

"Ever seen this demon before?" he asks.

"Not once," Lu admits.

"Damn."

"You think we can kill it?"

Ciel wipes off the sweat on his forehead and observes as the female Centaur materializes a massive firestorm around herself and charges up the next massive arrow.

The white-haired assassin puts on a nervous smile.

"Only one way to find out."


	84. No 67: A Diabla's Wrath

**Sorry for the slight delay, but the chapter's here now! C:**

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* * *

While the Elgang had left to explore the areas of Lanox, Add and Elsword remained at the camp.

Add slowly begins playing with his thumbs, sitting on the log near a fire. It had only been an hour since the team had left, but he was already bored. He glances at Elsword, who is sitting next to him silently, and frowns.

"What's with the long face?" he asks. "You're usually so annoyingly cheerful."

Elsword doesn't look at Add. "My own team doesn't trust me. I can't say I feel all that great."

"Well, they _do_ have a point. The Dark El is really powerful artifact, said to have unlimited energy, and you just went ahead and absorbed it. You can understand their concern, right?"

"Ran was going to kill us if I didn't."

Add sighs. Elsword is right in that regard.

When Add had faced Ran during Hamel's war, Ran didn't even flinch at any of his attacks. That demon was on a completely different level. It almost makes Add impressed that someone like Elsword was able to kill him.

"But until we can really understand the Dark El, it's probably smart to keep you away from the fight." Add notes.

Elsword nods slowly. "I guess."

"Hell, maybe this is a good thing. I can't remember the last time I wasn't in a fight. Being able to finally catch my breath feels great."

"Wait," Elsword hesitates. "Why are _you_ here? Why can't you fight?"

Add chuckles. "The Nasod Dynamos aren't responding to me. I'm useless."

"Is there some kind of malfunction?"

Add looks carefully at Elsword. Elsword is the leader of the Elgang. Perhaps if he tells him what's going on, maybe it could-

No. That wouldn't work. He doesn't need to know about Esper. That needs to remain something forgotten.

_Oh, you can't forget me._

Esper's voice is still present in Add's head. It's becoming increasingly more difficult to ignore that person.

"Uh," Add finally answers. "Yeah, just some kind of bug. I should have it fixed soon."

Elsword nods but frowns. "I see. But Add…"

"Yeah?"

"There's something else I wanted to ask. With all that's going on, I didn't really have the chance, but this seems like a good time."

"What is it?"

"Remember when you left us? You know, when you found out how to travel back in time?"

Add's face is emotionless. "What about it?"

"I want to know…did it work? Did you go back in the past? If you did, why did you come back? And why do you look different now?"

Add flinches.

He had really been hoping that no one would ask these questions. Eve had been the first to ask and now Elsword wanted to know as well. It made sense, Add never really gave the team an explanation of what happened, but he didn't want to repeat himself again.

"Those are a lot of questions." Add whispers.

"Please, I want to know."

"Look," he mutters quietly. "I _did_ go back in time, but not in the way I imagined."

"Huh?"

"That's all. I don't want to explain it."

Elsword remains silent for a few moments and stares at Add. Eventually, he nods his head.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I just want to forget it, that's all."

The two of them fall into silence again and they stare at the ground. Footsteps gradually become louder and someone sits down opposite them. Elsword looks up and sees a young girl with a bright grin observing them.

"Hey, you guys are adventurers, right?" Ignia asks.

Elsword hesitates. "Y-Yes."

"Who's asking?" Add questions back with a frown.

"Oh, I'm Ignia!" she giggles. "I was the one that teleported you to Lanox while you were fighting that 'Glave' guy."

Elsword's eyes widen and he smiles at her. "Thank you, Ignia, you're a life saver."

"You did that?" Add asks. "Are you some kind of mage?"

Ignia looks confused for a few moments and taps her index finger against her chin.

"Well," she mumbles innocently. "I'm sort of a mage, but some people wouldn't consider me one."

"Eh?"

"I'm a Priestess."

"The hell is that?"

"A female who is born with a large amount of magical energy."

Add looks at Ignia from head-to-toe. She has some kind of affinity with red clothes and seems around his age, with an amiable attitude. Having someone like that in Lanox doesn't make that much sense.

"Are Priestesses a big deal?" Add questions. Back in Add's time period, such people never existed.

"We used to be. Actually, people used to worship us."

"What…?" Add stutters, his frown furrowing. He's surprised she can say that with a straight face.

"But," Ignia continues. "After a while, we were forgotten. Still, the people of Lanox keep me here in case the demons of the region try to attack the factories."

"Are you strong, Ignia?" Elsword asks.

Ignia begins to blush. "Ehehe, just a little."

Add has never been good with magic, but he can tell that Ignia is being modest. He's not sure if Elsword can sense it but he can feel a ridiculous amount of energy emitting from her, even when she's sitting down and relaxed.

This amount surpasses Aisha by a mile.

"By the way…" Ignia mumbles. "Why aren't you guys with your friends? Aren't you adventurers?"

"Yeah, well," Add grumbles, glancing at Elsword. "We're, err, not in a good condition for fighting."

"Oh? Are you not feeling well? I can heal you, if you want!"

Add shakes his head. "Unless you can heal machinery, you can't help me."

Ignia doesn't understand at first, but realizes what Add meant as she sees the Nasod Dynamos behind him.

"Well, what about you, Elsword?" Ignia asks with a cheerful smile.

"I'm not sick or hurt either." Elsword mutters.

"Then what's the matter?"

"It's, um, a little weird."

"Don't worry." Ignia giggles happily. "I've heard plenty of strange things before."

Elsword hesitates and looks at Add, who simply shrugs his shoulders. This is Elsword's choice, not his.

And while Elsword didn't originally feel like discussing it, Ignia's sweet personality and friendly atmosphere have changed that. He's sure that a girl like her can understand, she's a Priestess after all.

"I absorbed an old stone into my body, so my team thinks I shouldn't fight."

"An old stone…? Like a magical one?" Ignia asks with widened eyes.

"Yeah." Elsword whispers. "It's changed me a lot."

Ignia stays silent for a few seconds but eventually shakes her head.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not quite sure how I can help…"

"There's no spell to get it out of me?"

Ignia shakes her head again. "Not that I know of. However…if it adapts to you, you should be just fine."

Elsword smiles a little. "That's good to know."

Then the red-haired girl pats off a little dust that got onto her dress and stands up. She stretches and waves her hand at Add and Elsword.

"Well," Ignia laughs. "I'd better get going before the others wonder where I went."

"Okay, see you later, Ignia."

The cheerful girl then leaves the two members of the Elgang and moves back to her post.

And as she does so, she falls into deep thought.

That child had absorbed the Dark El, there was no doubt about it. Elsword didn't say what specifically was absorbed, but she could sense the Dark El's presence surging through him. She had only heard stories of that stone, just legends and myths.

And yet there it had been, inside the body of an ordinary human.

Ignia felt as though the new adventurers could be trouble in Lanox, but now she is looking at their arrival in a completely different manner. They've brought her the Dark El, after all.

And if she can have that stone for herself…

She hadn't been lying to Elsword when she said she didn't know a spell for extraction. Even if a spell like that ever existed, that knowledge has long since been forgotten.

But the Dark El is using Elsword's body as its host.

So, if that host were to…die?

Then the Dark El would be released.

Ignia hides herself behind a corner and glares at Elsword from a distance.

She had been stuck with the idiots of Lanox for too long, always faking a smile and pretending to be a typical, air-headed girl. She's had enough. With the Dark El, she can finally get out of this place and do whatever she desires.

And to get the Dark El, the method is very simple.

Elsword has to die.

* * *

Lu grimaces as she's flung across the battlefield.

Ciel leaps in front of her and blocks the incoming arrows being fired at them until Lu can get up. Once she does, Ciel stands aside and allows her to unleash a counter-attack.

"You dare hit me?" Lu hisses as she pulls a small twig out of her hair. "I am your ruler, and you will obey m-"

The female Centaur interrupts Lu by firing another arrow. Chung quickly gets in front of the Duo and smacks the arrow away with his Destroyer, then following up by shooting multiple shots of magic from his pistols to move the Centaur back a bit.

"Yeah, can you talk later?" Chung grumbles as he smears dirt off of his face. "You can gloat about being a ruler _later."_

The battle hasn't been going well for the Elgang.

Raven had gone down from one direct hit from the Centaur and they've all become exhausted.

"Chung!" Rena yells as she charges up several arrows and fires them at the Centaur. "I'll cover you, get in there!"

Chung nods and darts away from the Duo and towards the female Centaur. Once close enough, he unleashes a barrage of missiles from the Destroyer in order to bring it down, but the Centaur shrugs them off and bats Chung away with its tail.

The Prince gasps as his face meets the ground. His armour absorbed most of the damage, but the force behind that demon's attack could still be felt.

Aisha shackles the Centaur down with dark magic and looks at the Duo. "Lay some hurt on it, quickly!"

Neither Lu nor Ciel need to be told twice.

While the Centaur is chained down, Lu punches the head twice and Ciel uses his Gunblade to fire piercing shots.

Eventually, the Centaur breaks out of the chain and the Duo move backwards again.

Ciel then moved behind the Centaur and tossed several throwing daggers at it in order to distract it. In the meantime, Lu uses the opportunity to rain demonic spears onto the Centaur, causing the demon to howl out in pain.

As Lu and Ciel continue to attack the Centaur while Rena and Aisha provide coverage, Ciel finds himself panting weakly and barely keeping up.

Battles were far more easy when he had two Gunblades, but working with just one is proving itself quite the challenge.

Ciel decides to sheathe his Gunblade and summon the Blue Blaster instead. The massive gatling gun tears down the flesh on the side of the Centaur and it attempts to kick Ciel away. He moves under the giant hoof and continues to fire.

Elesis and Draco both use fire to attack it, but the Centaur doesn't flinch and simply grows brighter and brighter.

"You idiots!" Aisha growls as she gasps for air. "That thing is powered by fire, you're just making it stronger!"

Elesis pauses for a second. "Oops."

"Well, you're on your own then." Draco mutters, standing back. "Fire is literally my only method of attack."

The giant Centaur gradually begins to show signs of weakening as the Blue Blaster fires at it again and again

However, Ciel stops firing as he notices Lu drop down to one knee. He dematerializes the Blue Blaster and quickly heads towards her instead.

"Lu," he speaks softly. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah." Lu mumbles back, her eyes half-open. "It's just…I'm losing a lot of magic…"

Ciel gasps. She's right.

The Blue Blaster doesn't use Ciel's magical energy, he doesn't possess any. It all comes from Lu, and he's been using the Blue Blaster non-stop. They have never needed to use this much energy before.

But they're also incredibly close to finally bringing it down. All they need is one more push.

Ciel closes his eyes and nods. "Lu, stand back."

"H-huh…?"

The white-haired assassin walks away from Lu and towards the Centaur. He holds his one Gunblade in his right hand and growls. He'll have to finish the rest of this fight without any magic.

"Rena! Aisha!" Ciel shouts without looking back. "Keep it distracted while I attack it, focus your projectiles on its head!"

Rena and Aisha understand and immediately begin attacking. Fireballs and arrows clash against the Centaur's face and it shrieks as the attacks go into its eyes. Ciel doesn't waste any time and darts forward, slashing away at its flesh with extreme precision and flexibility.

He only has one Gunblade to work with, so he holds it with both hands for more force. With caution, he advances forward and cuts off one of its legs, causing it to howl out and almost lose balance. It begins focusing on Ciel and kicks the ground, resulting in a wave of fire.

Ciel leaps above the fire and dodges maximum damage, but his jacket catches fire and he yelps as he can feel his skin burning from the heat. He tosses his jacket aside and keeps moving, not daring to stay in one position for even a second.

"Ciel!" Lu cries out, trying to get back on her feet, still overwhelmingly tired.

The assassin doesn't respond. He needs to do this.

Even with the pain of burnt skin, he keeps attacking.

Chung, Ara, Eve, and Raven had all fallen because of the Centaur and the rest of the team are struggling weakly. The demons in Lanox are simply too powerful.

But Ciel isn't about to give up in front of Lu.

He moves past the flames surrounding the Centaur and climbs up its body, forcing the Gunblade through its face. Blood gushes out and paints itself onto his face.

It screams and grabs Ciel with its human hands, then throws him to the ground.

Ciel groans as he crashes into the floor. He attempts to get back onto his feet but his entire body aches and he has no more strength. Rena watches from afar and loses her temper.

"Why you!" The Elf shouts as she barrages the Centaur with more arrows.

But the Centaur doesn't feel the pain anymore. It has adapted to Rena's arrows and Aisha's projectiles. It moves ominously towards them, eager to finally finish the battle.

With a dark expression, Lu finds her way onto her feet.

Demonic claws surround her small hands and black waves of magic emit out of her. She frowns at the Centaur and her claws slowly form into fists.

"You dare hurt _my _Ciel?!"

She leaps into the air and smashes the Centaur's face in with both of her claws. The Centaur hadn't expected the attack and immediately crashes into the ground. Lu stands on top of it and continues to punch it, making sure that the demon doesn't get back up again.

"I am the true Overlord!" She growls as she tears out one of the Centaur's eyes. "And you _will_ fall to me!"

The Centaur tries to get up again and again, only to meet with Lu's massive fists once more. Eventually, it attempts to cover itself in fire in order to push Lu away, but the flames simply dance off Lu's skin.

"Your fire hurts…" she whispers. "But not as much as _this!"_

Lu's claws grow twice in size and she punches the Centaur in the face one last time, this one knocking the demon out completely.

Lu stands there, on top of the Centaur, and catches her breath. Her claws disappear and silence falls onto the battlefield.

Aisha and Rena slowly put their weapons away and stare carefully at the Centaur, expecting it to rise back up at any moment.

But the demonic creature remains still and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Aisha rushes over to the fallen members of the Elgang and quickly tries to heal them all up, while Rena immediately rushes over to Raven to make sure he's alright.

Ciel gradually gets off the ground and looks at Lu. "It's over?"

Lu giggles. "Hehe, don't underestimate my abilities!"

"I never have." Ciel chuckles.

"Are you okay, though? You've got some burn marks, Ciel!"

"I'll be fine. I've dealt with worse." Ciel mumbles as he looks at the battlefield and finds his jacket on the ground, burnt to a crisp. "Looks like I need a new jacket."

"Geez, do you really need one?"

"Of course I do." Ciel grumbles. "How are _you?_ You must've used a lot of energy."

"Pfff," Lu laughs. "I'm fine. In fact, I feel grea-"

Ciel's eyes widen as the Centaur begins to move again.

He reaches his hand out to warn Lu, but there's no way he can make it to her on time. The Centaur leaps upwards and Lu is taken by complete surprise.

Blood sprays onto the ground as the Centaur forces its final arrow directly throw Lu's chest.

Ciel's heart stops. Rena and Aisha look in disbelief.

Lu slowly looks at the arrow in her chest and then to Ciel. "…huh…?"

Then she collapses.

"_LU!"_ Ciel screams out as he darts over to the Centaur.

With one swing, Ciel completely decapitates the Centaur and watches it finally die, his heart pounding with anger. The massive demon's head rolls onto the ground and the flames around it die out.

He doesn't even bother to observe its final moments. He drops his Gunblade and rushes over to Lu, holding her carefully in his arms. Her blood has already stained her dress and her pupils are blank.

"Lu," He whispers, clutching her tightly. "Lu, speak to me."

Lu stares silently at the assassin.

She wants to speak but no words will come out. The pain in her chest is too great, it's the only thing she can focus on. He continues to whisper to her, to get an answer from her, but she cannot hear him anymore. All she can do is look at his face and his sharp, blue eyes.

Lu smiles. Being able to see Ciel's face like this, it isn't too bad.

'_Sorry, Ciel.' _ She thinks to herself, unable to talk._ 'Forgive this master of yours. I was reckless.'_

Lu's vision gradually becomes more and more blurred. The arrow in her chest had appeared out of nowhere and so suddenly, and now it was going to end here before her journey was complete.

It all happened in an instant. She couldn't have avoided it. She didn't want to leave Ciel so soon, he had been so close to her, but it looks like that is the case. She only hopes that he'll find a way to continue without her.

She gasps one last time and closes her eyes, hearing Ciel's screams become distant and quiet.

Lu relaxes herself and waits for her consciousness to fade.

But it doesn't.

Lu opens her eyes again and watches in confusion as her vision slowly becomes normal once more. She can feel strength returning back to her body and the ability to move again. Blood starts pumping through her veins again and the pain in her chest has completely been eradicated. She blinks a few times, absolutely dumbfounded.

She sees Ciel again, his expression showing that he's just as clueless as she is.

Lu slowly moves herself out of Ciel's arms and stands back on her feet. Her balance is a little off, but somehow she can still use her legs. With widened eyes, she looks down at her chest, watching it shine with a blue glow. She pulls the arrow out of her and observes as the wound fixes itself within seconds. Ciel stares, both utterly relieved to see her still move, yet speechless about her recovery.

Ciel hands Lu's hands and watches as she looks back up at him.

"Lu…" he whispers. "Are you okay…?"

Lu nods blankly. "I think so…"

Rena and Aisha stand next to Lu, unable to say anything.

Ciel checks her carefully and makes sure that she's absolutely fine. He checks her eyes, her pulse, and sees if he can still sense her energy.

And everything is normal. She has simply…come back.

"How is this possible, Lu? Is this some kind of new technique of yours?" Ciel mutters.

"I don't know…" Lu whispers, still staring at the glow around her. She hasn't seen this glow before. "But my body feels…different."

"Are you not feeling well?"

Lu shakes her head. That's not the case. That isn't the case _at all._ No, she doesn't feel bad or sick in any way, she doesn't even feel weak anymore. Her body is full of energy again.

It's not the same energy that has always coursed through her, this energy is something new. This one is much better.

"No…it's not that…" Lu mumbles as her eyes start to glow as well.

Her dress disappears and is immediately replaced by a new set of armour. Ciel looks at it, watching it curl around Lu's tiny body and latch itself onto her arms and legs. Her horns grow longer and change colour, becoming much darker in shade.

Her teeth grow sharper. Her stare becomes bone-chilling. Her claws materialize and become jagged and spiked, completely different from her normal claws.

"I'm actually feeling…" Lu giggles to herself, her tone changed drastically. Rena, Aisha, and Ciel take a few steps back. "I'm feeling…different…in a good way."

Lu's friends back away slowly, watching as she begins to laugh. Her laughter echoes throughout the entire forest and she looks at Ciel with a different stare. A new stare. A far more ominous stare, full of killing intent.

She grins at her servant and lets this new power consume her to the core.

"**I'm feeling…**_**wonderful!"**_


	85. No 68: Losing Yourself

**Hello!**

**It's been quite a while since the last chapter, thank you for waiting. With new stories on the block, I've had to slow down my schedule a bit. But not to fret! I will still update regularly.**

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* * *

It had only been a few days since they returned to Lanox.

And Ciel already felt something was amidst.

The battle at the burning forest had been fierce and deadly, but they all managed to get out of there and make quick recoveries.

But word about Lu's 'condition' didn't take long to spread.

Near the end of the fight against the forest's Centaur, Lu had almost died from its final attack. Everyone was certain she wouldn't make it, but they had all been proven wrong. Some kind of transformation had been triggered and Lu…became something else.

Ciel looked up as Lu entered the tent.

"Ah, Ciel!" she giggled, playing with her spiked, jagged horns. "What are you doing, just sitting there?"

"Nothing," Ciel muttered.

He couldn't get used to how she looked now. Her elegant dress was no more, now replaced by dark blue armour that had curled itself around her. It didn't look like anything she would normally wear, yet she looked incredibly comfortable in it. Ever since that event several days ago, she had been acting somewhat similar to before, but Ciel knew very well that something had changed.

Being connected to her, he was able to feel what happened, but he couldn't properly explain it. He sensed all of her life-force drain away, then immediately come back without warning. Some sort of power had sparked life back into her body, changing her in the process. It wasn't him. It couldn't have been him. He didn't have nearly enough energy to pull off such a feat. Whatever it was, it had already been tucked away deep inside Lu for a long time. Earlier, Lu had explained that this was simply the power that demon lords once possessed, but Ciel didn't buy it.

And now, he could feel a different aura around her. Even the energy within her felt foreign to him, it most definitely wasn't the same energy he had himself. No, this one was more…erratic.

"Geez, you've looked so gloomy these past few days…" Lu complained, sitting down next to him.

"I'm not gloomy."

"Liar. I can tell perfectly. What's wrong, huh?"

"Nothing is wrong."

Lu turned and looked at him directly. "We're connected as one soul. I know when you're lying. Stop it."

Ciel didn't want to lie to her.

But what choice did he have? Tell her that he felt worried and anxious around her? That he didn't trust this new transformation?

That wasn't happening.

"I just need air." Ciel whispered.

He exited the tent, leaving Lu there by herself.

His feelings were conflicted. On one hand, he couldn't be happier that Lu survived that incident, but now he barely knew who she was. For the first time since they formed their contract, Ciel felt disconnected from her.

And that wasn't the only problem.

The contract seemed to be…malfunctioning.

Their contract was sealed between the two of them a long time ago. At that point, the conditions of said contract were simple. If he promised to serve Lu until death, he would be revived from the dead.

And Ciel had never given that contract a second thought, but now he realized just how heavier it was.

The contract also caused his soul and Lu's to bind together, so that they forever shared one soul instead. That caused things to become far more complicated, now that Ciel considered it well. That meant that they shared the same source of magical energy, connected feelings, and so much more. That also meant when something happened to one of them, the same would happen to the other.

When they returned to the camp and Ciel was able to find some alone time, he talked to Aisha in private. She had been studying the nature of magic far longer than anyone else he knew. If anyone could tell him more about his contract with Lu, it was her.

And what Aisha said only worried Ciel further.

'_Contracts cannot change, Ciel. Once they're made, the conditions and factors placed into it cannot be altered.'_

That is what Aisha had told him first. Even if he wanted to change some of the agreements of the contract, that was no longer possible.

'_Also, sharing one soul…it isn't practical. No one has actually done that before, considered how much one person can be affected because of someone else.'_

He wished he hadn't heard that from her.

Not only did he not understand what happened to Lu, but that same thing was gradually going to happen to him. He would change like she did.

And the changes had already begun. He had noticed them quite a while back.

His hair, for one, was completely white. Around two months ago, Ciel at least had a few strands of dark blue hair, but even that was gone now. And he knew very well that his hair colour change wasn't natural. It was because of the contract.

But Lu had told him long ago that their contract shouldn't be able to physically change them, so what was going on?

It was too troublesome to wrap his head around the entire situation.

"Ciel…" a soft voice spoke hesitantly.

He turned around and saw Lu. She was no longer smiling, now looking anxious.

"What is it?"

"I'm worried about you."

Ciel sighed. "And I'm worried about _you._"

"I know…" Lu admitted. "Everyone has been giving me different looks lately."

"This isn't something we can take lightly, especially since we don't understand it."

"I'm fine, Ciel. Really, I am."

"I believe you."

Lu frowned. "No, you don't."

He didn't, but he couldn't tell her that. As her protector and partner, he couldn't just come out and say such things.

"I trust you, Lu. Always have and always will."

"Then why are you afraid?"

"I'm not."

"Ciel, I can feel your emotions, remember?"

Ciel grumbled and turned the other way. "I'm just…thinking about what might happen to me."

"You?"

"Yeah."

"But this transformation happened to _me_."

"And _I_ might be affected by it."

"So? That just means you'll be stronger, like I've become!"

Ciel shook his head. She didn't understand.

He turned back to her and knelt in front of her, looking up with tired eyes. He held her hands in his and lowered his head.

"Lu," he whispered. "Have you noticed how much I've changed since we met?"

"No, you're still the same Ciel…"

"On the outside?"

Lu paused.

No, on the outside he looked completely different. His appearance had changed significantly.

"No…you've changed in looks…"

"Exactly, and it's only a matter of time until those changes start affecting me _inside._"

"And?"

"And…I'm afraid of losing sight of who I am."

"You won't."

"There's no way of telling."

"You can't change…" Lu protested, tears welling up at the edge of her eyes. "I don't want you to."

Ciel nodded. "Neither do I."

But it felt as though they were already walking down that path. They were becoming stronger and stronger thanks to the contract, but they were both starting to turn into something else.

Ciel gazed into Lu's eyes. Even though she looked and acted slightly differently, she was still the same Lu he had known for a long time. He was glad about that, but he knew her changes wouldn't stop here. It would keep on happening.

"Look, we'll figure something out." he eventually mumbled. "Just head back inside, I'll be there soon."

"No, I want to stay with you."

Ciel smiled and patted her head, feeling the soft texture of her hair in between his fingers.

He didn't want to be apart from her either. She was the only thing that mattered to him.

But he needed to distance himself for a while, just until he could think straight again.

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon. I just…want to take a walk."

Lu pouted. "Are you sure…?"

"Yeah. But when I get back, I'll prepare something delicious for you, okay?"

Lu grinned. "You better!"

Ciel chuckled and walked off, waving to her as he moved further away from their tent.

On the inside, Lu still seemed like herself. That was reassuring.

But she still had some changes. She talked dismissively towards the Elgang, she didn't care about their affairs, and she even talked rather coldly towards the people of Lanox. The only person she still acted the same towards was to Ciel, no one else.

Ciel slowly walked to the centre of the camp.

He only saw a few team members outside. Most of them still recovering from their wounds indoors. The battle they fought in the burning forest had put almost everyone under disrepair.

He walked away from that fight with some scratches and burnt skin, but that was considered lucky compared to the others. They had taken the stronger hits from the Centaur, and it was going to take time to get properly back on their feet. He hoped they all made speedy recoveries, since they had only begun to venture through the outskirts of Lanox. There were still plenty more demons waiting out there for them.

Ciel glanced at the log in the middle. Draco was sitting down next to Elesis, the two of them chatting away.

Staring at them, he began to realize how little he knew about both of them. Granted, he knew that Elesis was Elsword's sister, but anything past that was a complete blank. He wondered if they even knew anything about _him._

Probably not.

And that would be for the best. Considering Elesis was a loyal soldier, he didn't want her knowing about his previous life as an underground assassin. That wouldn't bode well.

Still, getting to know her and Draco better would be nice.

And Add was standing by the fire, glaring at it. That wasn't a surprise. He had been here every day, it was as though he completely refused to go inside.

Ciel had been keeping a close eye on him lately. He seemed unstable. And while the others trusted him, Ciel could sense something off about him. It hadn't always been this way, but recently he possessed a strange and ominous aura. Ciel made sure to watch him closely. Anything that could potentially threaten Lu's safety wouldn't be tolerated.

He didn't see Add as an enemy, but he was cautious.

"Um…excuse me…" an anxious voice called behind Ciel.

Ciel turned around and saw a small, blonde girl looked up at him. He recognized her.

"Oh," he smiled. "Hello, Steel."

"H-Hi."

"You needed something?"

"I heard you came back from a mission three days ago."

"That's right."

"Did you…happen to see my father?"

Ciel shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't."

"Oh…"

Ciel looked at her. She looked exhausted yet restless. All this time she was worrying about her family.

He couldn't just stand there and watch her like this.

"But hey, we only looked through a small part of the outskirts."

"Huh? How small?"

"Very little. I doubt we would've found anyone. Soon, we're going to much larger areas. I'm sure your father will be there."

Steel paused and remained silent for a moment.

Then she nodded her head in concurrence and smiled again.

"Right."

"So," Ciel continued, remembering about the deal he made with her. "How goes the repair?"

"On your Gunblade?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, I can't say for certain. I've got all the necessary materials."

"But…restoring its magical properties?"

"I'm still not sure." Steel admitted.

Ciel sighed. "Is that so…"

"Sorry, but anything can happen with magical weapons, to be honest."

"Well, I appreciate it anyway. Thank you, Steel."

"Not a problem."

"And don't worry about your father either, I'll find him."

Steel's smile grew and she nodded her head happily.

"I'll head back to the forge now. See you later, Ciel!"

Ciel waved her off and found himself genuinely chuckling.

She was a lot like Lu in terms of appearances, small and cute, but also the same as Chung in personalities. She had lost a father to the demons, just like Hamel's Prince.

Did people often lose people to the demons, or were Chung and Steel simply cursed with bad luck?

Either way, he wasn't lying to Steel. He empathized with her. If he could find her father somewhere in Lanox, he'd be sure to bring him back to his daughter. And with Lu by his side, perhaps he could even help get Steel's father out of the demon's mental influence. Surely Lu would know something about that.

While he was here, Ciel wanted to check up on the injured teammates, but he simply couldn't. He knew that they just needed rest right now, and he promised he would be back soon to make Lu some food.

He walked back slowly to his tent, looking at his surroundings as he did.

He didn't like this place. Too…industrial. It also gave him the chills for some reason.

The sooner they left this place, the better.

Ciel paused and came to a halt as he saw someone in front of his tent.

Raven stood there, leaning his back against one of the supporting poles. He looked incredibly tired, and he had a bandage wrapped around his head, covering his right eye. And despite his condition, Ciel was surprised to see him up faster than everyone else.

"Raven," Ciel spoke as he got closer.

Raven noticed him and turned his head. "Ciel,"

"Were you waiting for me here?"

"Yeah. I wanted to talk to you a while ago, but you weren't inside. Lu told me to just wait."

"Well, I'm here." Ciel nodded, looking at Raven's bandage. "Are you holding up well?"

"I'm fine, thanks. It's just a scratch."

"That's good."

"Yeah…" Raven trailed, suddenly looking at the ground. He began frowning. "How are _you_ doing?"

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"Yeah,"

"I'm doing alright."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"And your partner, Lu?"

"She's…fine."

Raven sighed. "You hesitated."

"So?"

"Ciel," Raven muttered, staring right at Ciel with his piercing, yellow eye. "All I'm asking for is your honesty."

"Why are you asking, anyway?"

"I'm worried."

"About Lu?"

"About the team. I wasn't there when it happened, but I've heard what's going on with Lu."

"So," Ciel said sharply. "You think she's a threat."

"No,"

"Don't deny it."

"I don't want hostility between team members, Ciel, and you know that."

"Then tell me why you're asking."

Raven cleared his throat. "People have become increasingly…nervous."

"Namely?"

"Namely…" Raven grumbled, reluctant to share the information. "Rena, Elesis…and Chung."

"They don't trust us?"

"No, no. They're just…on the edge after that whole business with Lu's transformation."

"Tell them it's fine."

"Is that what you truly think?"

Raven shook his head and put a hand on Ciel's shoulder. Ciel wanted to brush the hand off, but Raven's grip wasn't firm or hostile.

"If I thought Lu was a threat, I would've gone inside this tent and spoke to Lu myself. I'm talking to _you_ about it because I trust _you, _and your judgement."

"Why's that?"

Raven put on a small grin. "Because we're not so different, you and I."

Ciel hesitated for a few moments.

He didn't see Lu as a threat. She was fine, and she wasn't about to attack somebody like a savage. That was never a fear of his.

"Lu is fine, really. I can feel that she's changed after what happened, but she isn't a threat to the team."

Raven remained silent for a couple of seconds.

Eventually, he nodded his head.

"Thanks, that's good to hear." he spoke, relieved. He glanced once more at Ciel and his frown lifted. "I also came here to give you advice."

"Advice?"

"That's right."

"What is it?"

"It's simple, and I want you to really think about it."

"Alright."

Raven looked the other way. "Don't let someone else change you."

Those words hit Ciel harder than he anticipated.

Ciel stood there, glaring at Raven, unable to say anything.

He knew about Ciel's slow and gradual changes, and he knew it was because of Lu. Ciel hadn't expected Raven to be able to understand all of that so quickly, and he hadn't fully told the rest of the team about it. Somehow, Raven was already aware of the changes happening to Ciel because of his contract. How did he figure that out? And had he told the Elgang about it?

No matter what the answer was, Raven's advice wasn't something new.

Ciel didn't want Lu to change him. That was the last thing he wanted.

However…

"If that is going to happen." Ciel whispered, unafraid to stare straight at Raven. "Then so be it."

Raven looked shocked. "W-What?"

"You heard me. I have sworn to serve Lu until the day I die. If I will change over time because of it, then there's nothing I can do."

"Ciel…that contract isn't worth losing yourself."

"It is."

"You're better than that."

"No," Ciel hissed, his stance completely firm. "I was but a lowly assassin before."

"So?"

"Lu gave me a purpose. I will follow it through to the end."

Raven looked at Ciel, hoping to see even the slightest signs of hesitation or doubt in his expression. Any cracks in a potential façade.

But he didn't find any. After all this, Ciel's resolve was this choice. Raven didn't want that for him. Ciel had already lost half of his humanity because of the demon Lu, watching more of that being taken away was simply too much.

Raven took in a deep breath and walked past Ciel. He had to save him.

"**Even if it means destroying yourself?"** Raven whispered into Ciel's ear.

Then he took off, leaving Ciel alone again.

Ciel stood in front of the tent. His expression was blank. His mind was numb.

Destroying himself…

He was prepared for that too.

Ciel understood his own feelings now. Even though Lu was changing and he was gradually becoming someone else, he wouldn't stop now. The contract is absolute.

It was already clear to him. Clear as day.

Ciel was a completely different man compared to back when Lu first met him.

He had a change in morals, different physical appearance, and overall he had become someone new.

If that was going to happen again, then Ciel would welcome it. Because no matter how much both him and his master will change, they will always be 'Lu' and 'Ciel'. That was all the reassurance he ever needed. His conscious was clear.

And while he enjoyed being part of the Elgang, and it seemed like Raven wanted to look out for him, he didn't mind the thought of leaving them. If it was an order from Lu, then he would do it without a second thought. He saw them as friends, but he wouldn't disobey Lu.

Ciel knew what he was. He was Lu's protector. Her sword. Her weapon.

And he would do his best to retain that role.

He looked back at the tent and scratched the back of his head. He had the choice of catching up with Raven and finishing their conversation, but he quickly decided against it. They had nothing more to discuss, and his resolve wasn't about to waver. He appreciated Raven's concern, and even though he trusted him, he wouldn't listen to his advice.

With hesitation, Ciel unsheathed his Gunblade and held it out in front of him.

One weapon left. He would serve Lu the best he could, even with this disadvantage.

Ciel strolled to the tent and opened it up.

He didn't know what he was going to make, but he wanted to prepare something nice for Lu.

"Alright, Lu." Ciel muttered. "I'm back, now what would you like to eat-"

Ciel paused.

He dropped his Gunblade and stared in utter shock.

There was no way what he was seeing was real. This had to be a mistake.

He stood there with widened eyes as he looked at Lu with horror.

Lu was kneeling on the floor, her eyes sparkling and a massive grin on her face. She hummed a sweet tune as she sunk her teeth deeper into the object in her small hands. As blood dribbled down her mouth, she turned around and noticed Ciel. She yelped out of fear and tried to hide the object behind her, but Ciel had already clearly seen what it was.

He felt like throwing up. He never expected to see something like that in his entire life.

"It's…not what it looks like…" Lu protested quietly.

Ciel found himself completely frozen. He couldn't believe what he was looking at.

But his eyes weren't deceiving him. He saw it all himself.

His master chewing on the fresh leg of an animal.


	86. No 69: An Assassin's Will

**Hello, time for the next chapter!**

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**Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy! C:**

* * *

Draco woke up angry.

He brushed aside his blanket and sat up.

And almost fell over as he noticed Elesis sleeping beside him.

He was close to yelling out in frustration, but found the strength to hold himself back and not wake her up.

This hadn't been the first time and Draco was numb to things like this now.

Unlike everyone else, he had a restless night. He found it incredibly difficult to fall asleep, and for the rare moments when he did, it wouldn't last for very long. His conscious was clouded and his mind was filled with too many thoughts. There was no peace inside his heart.

And it was all because of the Elgang.

He had been with the Elgang for several months now, and he couldn't take it anymore. They had all set out and worked as a team, battling through both the thick and thin, but it was driving Draco insane. He wasn't here to make friends, he wasn't here to get all nice and comfortable with the team, he had come here to _kill_ them. Why was he not doing so?

But as Draco glanced down and looked back at the sleeping Elesis, he knew he already had the answer to that question.

Elesis. He had used her to gain the location of Elsword, but by the time they found the boy, he couldn't find it in himself to attack him in front of her. She trusted him and they had travelled as partners for a while, and Draco found himself…hesitant to betray her. After all this time, he was slowly getting attached to her.

Draco shook his head. That was illogical. He was a former Greater One, the gods of Elrios and the beings that created this world. Being friends with a pitiful, filthy human should be the last thing he would ever do.

Yet, now as a human, Draco couldn't deny that he had gotten comfortable with both Elesis and the rest of the Elgang. Time had connected them all together, and he found it hard to leave.

And even if he wanted to leave and complete his _true_ goal, that would only result in his defeat. Elsword was simply too powerful to kill now. He had absorbed the Dark El and become one with it, and while Draco was powerful too, he doubted his chances against such a foe. If he was able to, he would've stopped that foolish child from getting his hands on that stone, but he never had that kind of opportunity. For now, Elsword was on a completely different level and Draco knew he had to stay back.

He got up from his bed, making sure to be utterly silent, and walked towards the mirror to look at himself.

Just one battle in the region of Lanox, and he already looked battered up. He had bruises on his cheek and neck, and dark circles under his eyes.

He didn't remember demons ever being _this_ strong. The demons in Lanox had surprised him with their level of strength, they deemed far more of a threat than the demons in other regions. It only made him wonder what was making them more dangerous than usual. It couldn't be the Dark El, that was part of Elsword now. It had to be another power source that was giving the demons a boost.

Draco grabbed the brush resting on the mirror's table. Unsure of how to properly do it, he began brushing his black, shaggy hair.

He was getting into strange habits ever since he gained a human body. Brushing his hair was one of the strangest, right alongside eating. Eating was extremely weird and foreign to him, just the thought of it bothered him. There was a time when he never needed to do such human things.

But now he had to, and he was afraid of getting used to it. In fact, he already was. Gradually.

He put the brush down and stared at his hair. It wasn't perfect, he hadn't even combed it fully.

But he didn't care.

He threw on his shirt and jacket, the first ones he saw, and sat back down on the bed. He stared at Elesis. Her eyes were closed and her red hair was a mess, covering half of her face. She looked so peaceful. She _was_ peaceful.

These past months, she had found her brother and was fighting alongside him almost every day. How could she not seem peaceful?

His urge to kill Elsword was strong. Him and his friends had to die, it was the only way for Draco to find peace as well. He could never rest himself nor his soul until he had those people's blood on his hands. The only thing that was truly stopping him was Elesis. The way she'd look at him, the things she would say to him…

He chuckled dryly. He had become attached to Elesis, but wanted to kill her only family.

It was truly sadistic.

Elesis' eyes opened and Draco turned away, pretending that he hadn't been staring at her.

She sat up, yawned, and glanced over to Draco. She smiled and rubbed her eyes a few times.

"Morning, Draco."

Draco hummed but didn't answer. He walked over to the wooden box in the middle of the room and began searching through it.

"Say," Elesis continued, noticing how messy her face was. "Why are you up so early…?"

"Couldn't sleep." Draco said without emotion.

"Insomnia?"

"I guess so."

Elesis pushed the blanket off of her and got up. She wandered over to the closet and checked the clothes inside.

"Could you turn around for a second?" Elesis asked.

"What for?"

"I need to get changed."

"Into what?"

"Into my Red Knights uniform, obviously."

Draco glanced at Elesis. She was wearing a simple white shirt and baggy trousers. He got to see her in her normal attire more than anyone else ever did.

She definitely couldn't go outside dressed like that.

Draco turned his back and Elesis quickly got changed. While looking the other way, he continued to rummage through the wooden box more until he finally found his weapon, Veryx. He held it up and watched as it sparked to life from his touch, small flames flickering off its handle. For the first time in a while, he grinned.

"Alright, you can turn back now." Elesis said.

Draco looked back at her and she saw the burning scythe in his hand. She frowned.

"What?" Draco asked.

"You never told me where you got that weapon, did you?"

"Um,"

"Actually," Elesis muttered, folding her arms. "Even though we've been travelling for months together, you've told me very little about anything."

"Err…"

Elesis' frown darkened and she glanced the other way. She thought for a few moments, and then looked back at him.

"It's fine, you don't have to tell me anything." Elesis whispered.

While Draco didn't know humans all that well yet, he had alongside Elesis long enough to know what that meant. If she said something was 'fine'…

It wasn't really fine.

Draco grumbled again and heaved a heavy sigh.

What exactly was he supposed to tell her? Obviously, after all this time, it would seem strange not to say anything about himself, but he definitely couldn't tell her the truth. He doubted she would even believe such a thing.

Draco needed to keep her trust for multiple reasons, however, so he quickly conjured something up.

"My weapon, Veryx." Draco spoke reluctantly. "It was made from the heart of a dying demon."

Elesis now looked surprised and smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah,"

No, it wasn't.

Draco had created Veryx himself, back when he was a Greater One. He had forged the scythe with his own two hands. But he couldn't tell her that, he could only tell her what she wanted to hear.

"What about _yourself_, Draco?" Elesis asked. "How did you come to be an explorer and a fighter?"

Draco hesitated. "I was a villager. I lived in Bethma for a long time. I wanted to see the world."

"Any family?"

Draco could at least be honest about this one. "None."

Elesis already looked a lot happier. Just hearing a little bit of his 'past' was enough to set her back into a good mood.

Draco was simply glad that she was buying it. He was just making it all up as he went. He knew nothing about the ordinary life, nor the motives that drove humans to do things. It was all alien to him, none of it felt right.

"Hey," Elesis laughed. "That wasn't too hard, was it?"

"I suppose not."

"Anything you'd like to know about _me_?"

"No," Draco said, sheathing the scythe. "I think I know everything by now."

"Oh yeah? What's my favourite colour?"

Draco shot Elesis a dark look.

He stared at her, looking at the Knight from head to toe. He stared at her _red_ uniform, her _red_ hair, her _red_ eyes, her _red_-coloured weapon. He stared them all for the longest time.

And simply sighed.

"I'm just going to throw out the wildest guess, okay?" Draco said with an emotionless face.

"Sure,"

"Red."

Elesis widened her eyes. "How did you know that?!"

Draco sighed again and pretended that this conversation never took place.

He reached back into the wooden box and pulled out his armour. It had been made for him by the knights of Hamel. White, with small streaks of blue spanning across it. It had unreadable writing carved into its sides as well.

War had waged between Man and Demon in the kingdom of Hamel, and Draco had fought at the front lines. For leading the knights to victory and being a large part of the war, he had been given this armour as a gift. They told him they had spent an incredibly long time to forge it, longer than any of their other work. It had been created from the same material of a Guardian's suit of armour, like Chung's. It wasn't nearly as bulky or as heavy as a Guardian's, but was sturdy enough to withstand the same kind of physical damage.

The truth was, Draco only took part in the war and fought the demons to become stronger. He feared he was falling behind compared to everyone else, so he saw the war in Hamel as a simple exercise routine. Still, the armour the people of Hamel had given to him was quite valuable and strong, so Draco had decided against sharing that information. They didn't need to know.

He lifted the different pieces of the armour and attached it to himself, covering over his jacket underneath. It took a little readjusting, but eventually he had gotten it all fixed up and ready to operate.

"Wow," Elesis giggled. "That look suits you."

Draco frowned. "I prefer just wearing my jacket."

"So why do you have that armour on?"

"Protection."

"Really? I always took you for the reckless type." Elesis teased.

It was true. He cared very little about his safety, and never thought to actually wear anything that could protect him.

But things were different in Lanox. He already knew that the demons here were no joke. Back in Hamel, he could wipe out dozens of them without a second thought, but that wasn't the case anymore. He would need to take some safety precautions if he wanted to get out of every battle alive.

"Are you afraid, Draco?"

Draco looked at Elesis and frowned. "Why are you asking me that?"

"I just want to know."

"Afraid of what?"

"Death,"

Draco walked away from the bed and to the exit. "No."

"Oh…"

"Elesis," Draco muttered, looking at the uncertain and anxious expression on her face. "Are _you_?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's natural."

"No, it's not. I'm a Red Knight and part of this team, but I'm still a coward."

"A coward?"

Elesis looked down. "What kind of fighter fears death?"

"A good one."

"Huh?"

"Fear of death makes you stronger." Draco whispered. "It's the greatest motivation that you can feel in the midst of battle."

"But Draco, if I die…"

"Hm?"

Elesis' red eyes stared directly into Draco's. "Would you take care of my brother for me?"

"What's with this all of the sudden?"

"We're in Demon territory now. Lu almost died in our first fight in Lanox. I just want to prepare for the worst…"

"Don't. Lanox has nothing it can throw at us that we cannot handle."

Elesis raised her head back up again.

She took out her Claymore from the storage and swung it behind her, sheathing it to her back. With her heart racing, she stood beside Draco and they both left the tent together. Ready for another fight.

And Elesis smiled.

"You're a good liar."

* * *

The Elgang had set out from the city of Lanox and into the next known demon territory.

The people of Lanox had told them that there was a massive factory structured right below the city. It was the largest factory they had, until the demons suddenly raided it. It was all lost in just the matter of one night.

If the Elgang could retake the underground factory, the people of Lanox would have proper resources again. Edan had promised the Elgang that pushing the demons out of Lanox would become much easier if they could pull it off.

They trailed forward through the abandoned tunnels that lead underground. No one had dared walk through them in a very long time, so it was full of cobwebs, dirt, and other filth. It wasn't pleasant for any of them.

Lu and Ciel walked in the middle of the line. Neither of them had talked to each other in four days, and Lu couldn't take it anymore.

"You really need to get over what happened, Ciel." Lu whispered so that her voice wouldn't cause an echo in the tunnels.

Ciel didn't look back at her. "That was savagery, pure and simple."

"I was hungry and there was a boar nearby."

"So, you hunted it?"

"I mean, yes…"

Ciel sighed. "I'm honestly just trying to forget it."

"Why?"

"Because now I know in what way you're changing."

"How am I changing?"

"Lu," Ciel muttered, slowing down slightly. He still didn't look her in the eyes, but turned her way. "It's your instincts."

"My…instincts?"

"Yes. That energy you used to save yourself is giving you demonic instincts again, just like the demons we've been fighting."

Lu looked upset. "That's not true. I'm not an animal like them."

"Yet you hunted just like them."

Lu looked down and folded her small arms. Her face had become red and she looked incredibly frustrated.

She wasn't becoming like those savages. She was a Lord, not one of them. That had never been a doubt it in her mind. She only hunted that animal because she suddenly felt the urge to. She was waiting for Ciel to prepare something for her, but she got too hungry. She only went out and hunted because she _really_ wanted to, because she was hungry and needed to eat. It was just a second nature to her. It was just…

An instinct.

Lu felt her heart sink. Ciel was right. New instincts had kicked in to make her do that.

These past few days she had misunderstood. Ciel wasn't afraid or disgusted by her. He was worried about her.

"What can we do, Ciel?" Lu asked. "I don't want to become like them."

"I don't know. Both of us know too little of our contract to do anything about it."

"But we'll be alright, won't we…?"

Ciel glanced at her. "Yeah, don't worry."

They moved further down through the tunnels and the air gradually became stale. It had become slightly harder to breathe and the pathway was dimly-lit. When it reached the point that no one could see where they were going, Draco stood at the front of the line and summoned a small ball of fire into his palm. It didn't light up the tunnels as much as they hoped, but it was enough.

Aisha grimaced as she saw rats scuttle under their feet. "Ew,"

"This place is rather dirty, isn't it?" Rena asked, looking at the rats in the same way.

"There has to be another way to the factory. This place isn't sanitary!"

"What did you expect, Aisha? No one has been through these tunnels in _years_."

"Ever since the demons claimed the underground as their own?"

"That's right."

Aisha frowned. "The demons don't use these tunnels at all?"

"They don't need to return to the surface. They can live underground without a problem, unlike us."

"But wouldn't they set a trap or something? They have to keep intruders out somehow."

Raven answered first. "They probably did at the beginning, but over the years no one dared come down here, so they must've lowered their guards. In their minds, no one will ever try to enter these tunnels."

"Except us." Chung said confidently.

They hadn't brought Elsword or Add again. Add still couldn't regain control of his Nasod Dynamos, and Elsword was still unstable.

Still, the Elgang were more confident than last time. Last time, they were hit badly because they didn't know just how strong the demons were, but now they knew what was coming. They would stick together and get through this alive. They were ready.

Eve stopped and looked concerned. "Everyone, halt."

They turned around to look at Eve and did as she said. They watched as her yellow eyes glowed for a few moments, then return back to normal.

"I'm detecting other beings in this tunnel." Eve said, Moby and Remy floating cautiously by her side.

The rest of the team immediately took their weapons out and readied themselves.

But Ara instead moved away from the group and knelt down on the ground. She slowly tried to grab something from the darkness.

"Ara?" Chung asked, looking at her. "What are you doing?"

Ara stood back up. "Look at this!"

The team looked at what Ara was holding in her hands. It was a small, green creature. It had an incredibly long nose and crooked teeth, and was tiny enough to be held like a baby. It wore a leather hat and overalls, and possessed a bag over its shoulder. Its resemblance to a small goblin was uncanny.

"Err," Elesis hesitated. "What _is_ that?"

"I don't know, but isn't it adorable?" Ara giggled, hugging the small creature in her arms.

Raven sighed. "Ara, put it down. We have no idea what it is."

"So? It's harmless!"

But Chung frowned as he watched the small creature wriggle around in Ara's grasp. It slowly and secretively began reaching into its bag, rummaging around for something.

Chung gasped as he saw the creature pull out a hand-sized bomb.

"_Ara!" _ Chung shouted at the top of his lungs.

The Guardian leapt forward, grabbed the bomb out of the creatures hand, and tossed it as far away as he could.

The moment the bomb hit the ground, an explosion went off in the distance. The sound of it echoed throughout the entire tunnels.

Chung then turned back around to the creature and pulled it out of Ara's hands. He quickly summoned a Silver Shooter into his left hand and fired a shot directly through the small demon's skull. Its limp body fell to the ground and everyone stared in shock.

Draco spoke first. "Damn,"

"Ara," Chung muttered. "Are you alright?"

Ara looked stunned. In just a single moment, that small demon had tried to kill her. She was still processing what just happened in her mind.

"Y-Yes…" She stuttered. "I think so…"

"Looks like we found one of the stranglers." Eve commented.

None of them expected that. They didn't even know that the creature was an actual demon.

Now the tunnels began echoing more and more, the sounds of footsteps hurrying towards them. They all heard it and Raven shook his head.

"That explosion must've alerted all of the other demons. They know we're here."

"So what do we do?" Aisha asked.

"We run."

They immediately took off, running towards the exit.

They had been moving slowly all this time so that they didn't slip or run into something, but that wasn't an option anymore. They needed to get to the factory before the strangler demons caught up to them. The tunnels were too dark for them to fight properly, this area would simply give them a disadvantage.

Draco couldn't concentrate anymore and the fire in his hand dispersed. They were completely running in pitch-black now.

The sound of footsteps were slowly closing in on them and they kept on running. Even though the tunnel only headed in a straight line, they ran close to each other so that one of them wouldn't be lost.

And they screamed as the tunnel suddenly went straight down.

They slid down and fell out of the tunnel, crashing into the ground.

Ciel reacted quickly and grabbed Lu, using himself to cushion her fall. His back collided against the rough ground and Lu fell on top of him, and Ciel growled in pain. He wasn't sure how far they had fallen out of the tunnel, but it was probably a long way down. His back felt extremely numb.

"Ciel…" Lu coughed as she slowly opened her eyes. "Are you okay…?"

"Yeah, that fall was nothing." he lied.

The two of them got up and saw the rest of the team carefully get to their feet as well. Aisha got up, brushed off the dust on her clothes, and looked incredibly irritated.

"You know," she grumbled as she patted dust out of her hair. "It would've been nice for Edan to tell us that the exit goes straight down."

Raven nodded his head as he got to his feet. "Seems like pretty important information to leave out."

The team looked up and watched as Eve elegantly hovered to the ground, Moby and Remy holding her by the feet. She descended carefully and looked slightly amused.

"Quite unfortunate, I agree." Eve said, not a single scratch on her.

Aisha resisted the urge to yell.

They weren't even any time to recover either, as hordes of demons surrounded them on the ground as well. They stepped back cautiously as they watched the demons create a circle around them.

There were black demons that they were familiar with, but also plenty of globin-like, bomb-tossing demons surrounding them too. The sheer number of them was overwhelming, though it was expected considering that the underground factory was their territory all this time.

Elesis unsheathed her Claymore. "Looks like we won't have the element of surprise on them."

Ciel stood beside Lu and held out his Gunblade. He quickly counted up the demons that had caught them. He didn't like their chances in a situation like this, but they had to wipe out all of the demons in the area. That was their mission and they had to follow it through.

The horde of demons were specifically trying to block the entrance to the building behind them, a massive factory with gears latched onto it, constantly spinning clockwise. It was exactly the building they had come looking for.

"Don't hold back, anyone." Raven ordered. "We have to push through."

"Yeah…" Draco said hesitantly. "That _might_ be a problem."

The team looked up and watched as a much larger demon approached the horde, acting as their reinforcement. Its footsteps alone caused the ground to shake beneath them and almost make them lose their balance.

A giant, bearded man walked ominously towards them, carrying a hammer equally as large. He growled and grumbled as he saw the humans before him, and eventually swung his hammer up into the air. He released a loud war cry and prepared to smash the Elgang down.

He attacked before any of the smaller demons could, but was stopped as Ciel leapt in front of the attack and blocked it.

Ciel struggled as he used his Gunblade to stop the hammer from hitting the team. It was difficult, and the hammer was far stronger than he anticipated, but he still held his guard up against its force.

"You…" Ciel whispered, still struggling as the giant man put more pressure down on him. "You're Steel's father, Sdeing…aren't you?"

Sdeing roared at the sound of that girl's name and kicked Ciel away, causing the assassin to fall backwards.

Ciel immediately got back to his feet and held out his Gunblade threateningly.

"I promised I'd bring you back to your daughter." the assassin said. "And that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"C-Ciel?" Lu spoke out anxiously.

Ciel turned his head to the Elgang. "You guys take the horde, I'll take the big one!"

The team quickly nodded and got into position, preparing themselves for another bloody, gritty fight.

Ciel watched as Sdeing charged forward and swung his hammer again, which Ciel simply needed to lean back in order to dodge. He drove his knee into Sdeing's face and slowly walked over to the giant man as he collapsed.

Sdeing was under the influence of the demons, controlled and tortured by them, and his daughter missed him greatly. This man needed to be saved and taken back home. Ciel knew that he wouldn't rest until he completed his promise. Not just so that his other Gunblade could be repaired, but because he knew Steel was counting on him. He would get her family back.

Ciel held his Gunblade's handle in two hands and gave a sharp, piercing stare as Sdeing charged at him again.

He was bringing Sdeing home.

No matter what.


	87. No 70: The Surge

**Hello, hello!**

**I'd just like to take advantage of this author's note to break some news.**

**I think I've mentioned this before, but just in case I haven't, I'll say it now: this story will be ending with Lanox. Yes, Elysion will _not_ be coming up. This story is almost 2 years old now and is finally coming to an end, and while I want to keep going, it seems most fitting to place its grand finale in Lanox. I'm looking forward to the finale, I've been putting a lot of time into it, and I hope it will be enjoyed. **

**Special thanks to Kurenai no Musha, josephofoma624, and jenniferliuyyz for following/favouring this story! You're awesome! C:**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"You're a tough one."

Ciel struggled as he blocked another attack from Sdeing's hammer. He hadn't expected an ordinary human to put up such a fight. Was it because the demons were controlling him, or was Sdeing truly this strong?

At the rate they were fighting, they were evenly matched.

The assassin leapt backwards and shot Sdeing with his Gunblade, keeping him back long enough for Ciel to catch his breath. More than anything, he was surprised by Sdeing's strength. It wasn't enough to defeat Ciel, sure, but Sdeing was undeniably powerful.

The rest of the Elgang fought at the edge of the battlefield, doing their absolute best to keep the demons off of Ciel. He needed to concentrate if he wanted to bring down Sdeing without killing him.

The number of demons gradually kept increasing and Ciel began to worry that they would reach him.

Eve remained calm, however. She summoned Oberon at a moment's notice and watched as the servant made short work of the reinforcements.

Aisha used a binding spell to keep a horde of them in one space, allowing Draco to snap his fingers and burn them to a crisp.

Every moment he fell back, Ciel looked at the Elgang. Seeing them all do their best so that he could keep on fighting, it made Ciel feel something in his heart. It was…warming.

Ciel barely ducked under the next swing from Sdeing's hammer and realized he was losing focus. He kept his eyes on Sdeing and leapt around him, slashing him twice in the back before needing to retreat again.

He stared at the wounds he had inflicted on Sdeing. His body was bleeding heavily, but he was still moving as though none of it affected him. Ciel frowned and took a defensive stance. He couldn't keep attacking Sdeing indiscriminately. At this rate, Sdeing would die before Ciel could help him escape the demons' possession. How could he possibly look at Steel in the eyes again if _that _happened?

Sdeing swung again and Ciel dodged it effortlessly. He jumped upwards and drove his elbow into Sdeing's chin, watching the giant Blacksmith tumble over and almost lose his balance. With desperation, Sdeing smashed the ground with his hammer and the earth beneath them shook violently.

Despite this, Ciel kept perfect balance. Even the Elgang were shaken and Ara fell over, but Ciel didn't feel a thing. It was as though the ground beneath him was completely still.

Ciel looked confused. Normally, an earthquake would sweep him off his feet.

Was he getting stronger?

Sdeing swung his hammer in fit of rage, attacking much faster than before, but Ciel still got out of the way of all the attacks. He frowned. At least one of these attacks should've caught him off guard and hurt him, even just a little bit.

Ciel blocked a direct punch from Sdeing with his bare hand and punched him right back, sending the Blacksmith flying across the battlefield.

Ciel stared at his right hand and his heart was beating faster. Something was wrong. There was something terribly wrong here.

He wasn't even trying.

This fight kept getting easier and easier. Sdeing was gradually increasing the strength of his attacks, but Ciel found himself putting less effort into the fight as it went on. This was simply too easy for him.

With his keen senses, he could tell perfectly well what was going on. He was faster than usual, stronger than usual, and _far_ more endurable than usual. He didn't understand why.

Sdeing got up and grabbed his hammer, but this time Ciel was able to hit him before the Blacksmith even got a chance to attack. Sdeing tumbled back to the ground again and Ciel started feeling…bored.

This time, it took even longer for Sdeing to get back on his feet. He was slowly getting tired. Once he was up, he raised his hand up and summoned a massive anvil to the ground. Ciel stepped back and avoided its impact, watching bursts of energy erupt out of it in a frenzy.

Ciel jumped over the first wave, the second, the third…

But was suddenly hit by the fourth.

He growled as he crashed into the ground. The wave had hurt far more than he expected, and it took him a long time to regain his composure.

But by that time, Sdeing had struck him with his hammer again. Ciel faltered and was caught by multiple hits, each one knocking the wind out of him. He fell to his knees once Sdeing had let up, and coughed out a bit of blood. His ribcage felt shattered, he could barely breathe, and his vision was starting to blur out.

All of a sudden, he was weak. He could hardly move, he couldn't dodge Sdeing's attacks, and pain had engulfed him.

Sdeing then grabbed Ciel by his jacket and tossed him into a nearby wall. Ciel yelped out in agony he received from the impact.

"W-What…?" he whispered to himself, trying to get out of the rubble. "What is happening to me…?"

Sdeing wasn't planning on standing by idly until Ciel got up, however, and charged right for him.

But Ciel effortlessly threw a punch and created a crater beneath them from its sheer force. This time, it was Sdeing's turn to cough out blood, and he rolled back with a hiss.

Ciel was confused up to this point, but he realized what was happening now.

His strength was unstable right now. He kept switching between a boost in power, and a drastic decrease in it. In a single moment, he was strong enough to flick Sdeing away without a thought, then in a few seconds he was too weak to even stand up properly.

This had to be the work of the contract. Somehow, and for some reason, it was causing Ciel's strength to increase and decrease at complete random.

But Ciel was now stronger than usual again. He rushed forward towards Sdeing, grabbed him by the hair, and smashed his face into the floor violently, hoping to knock him out. Sdeing didn't go unconscious, but wasn't able to recover him Ciel's attack and stumbled weakly. Ciel slashed away at Sdeing's armoured chestplate instead, cutting it down to size in just three swings. He then kicked Sdeing as hard as he could and watched as the Blacksmith dropped to one knee.

"Give it up, Sdeing." Ciel muttered, standing above his weakened enemy. "You have to snap out of it."

Sdeing didn't listen, instead grunting like an animal. He rose up and swung his hammer forward, only for Ciel to step back and dodge it with his eyes closed.

"Sdeing, please." he groaned. "You can't hit me-"

Then the top of the hammer collided with Ciel's forehead.

Blood spattered out of his skull as he was crushed under the hammer and his body lost all its strength. He tried to gasp and recover, but was unable to do so. Sdeing held him against the ground, smashing his hammer into Ciel's head over and over, watching silently as a small pool of his blood gathered around him. Ciel attempted to roll out of the merciless attacks, but everything was circling around him and dizziness had taken over. He couldn't think straight anymore. His head was taking serious hits. He was losing too much blood. His brain wasn't going to last.

Ciel waited weakly, hoping that his random boost in strength would return to him again.

It didn't.

"_Get your hands off him!" _he heard someone scream.

Lu's right claw met with Sdeing's left cheek and Ciel felt his attacks finally stop. The Blacksmith growled as the demonic claw scratched his eye and he reeled back in agony. A huge chunk of his eye drooped out and blood was gushing out of the socket. He almost dropped his hammer but still tried to punch Ciel while he was down, ignoring the fact he was now blind in one eye.

But Lu wouldn't let the Blacksmith. She summoned a larger claw from the ground and hit Sdeing with a relentless uppercut. As Sdeing tried to recover from it, she materialized a massive demon and pointed at him.

"That's the enemy," Lu whispered to it. "Crush it."

The demon hovered off the ground for a few moments and simply glared at Lu. For a second, she was afraid that she still didn't have full control over it, but it eventually obeyed and charged towards Sdeing. She gave a sigh of relief.

As Lu's demon kept Sdeing busy, she rushed towards Ciel and wiped the blood off his face.

"Ciel!"

He could barely hear her. It felt like his head was mush. He hadn't taken such powerful hits to the skull before. Everything seemed blurred.

"Lu…" he gradually mumbled, trying to get back to his feet. "You can't be here…you have to keep the demons away…"

"The rest of the team have it covered. I'm _not_ going to stand by and watch you get hurt."

"But…"

"No buts," she hissed, supporting his balance as he got onto one knee. "Ciel, something's wrong. This guy shouldn't be any trouble for you."

Ciel opened his mouth to explain what was happening to his body, but he simply didn't have enough strength. He lost balance again and remained on the ground.

Lu looked at him with her soft, blue eyes and gave him a gentle tap.

"Alright, Ciel, don't worry." she smiled. "I'll handle it from here."

She left the assassin on the floor and slowly walked up to Sdeing.

The demon she had summoned to keep him distracted had been defeated. It wasn't able to match up to the Blacksmith's strength. She had to fight him alone.

And without her support, the Elgang wouldn't be able to keep the rest of the demons back for very long. She had to bring Sdeing down, and _fast._

Blue flames danced around her. Sdeing charged with his hammer still in hand.

The two clashed and immediately broke the ground below with the sheer pressure of their power. Lu's claws countered both Sdeing's large fist and hammer evenly, and she wrestled with him to get that weapon out of his grip. It was his only weapon and means of proper damage, if she could get rid of it then this fight wouldn't last very long.

Lu wasn't quick and nimble like Ciel, but she more than made up for it in brute force. She punched Sdeing repeatedly, mostly aiming for his damaged eye to inflict more pain onto him. She knew that Ciel wanted to keep the Blacksmith alive, but she wasn't pulling back any punches either. She wouldn't take the chance of defeat.

And because she was enjoying herself _immensely._

This fight was getting her blood flowing. She hadn't felt so happy and excited about a battle before, but now it was the only thing she really lived for. She took a direct hammer swing to the chest but only giggled, then delivering a kick to the face in return. The blue, ominous flames around Lu only grew, burning Sdeing's slowly and agonizingly. The Blacksmith tried to stay away from the fire, but it was only growing in range with every passing second.

Lu's left claw turned back into a normal hand and she snapped her fingers.

"Welcome to my garden, Sdeing."

Black flowers scattered across Sdeing's feet, turning the rough and dry ground into a massive garden within mere moments. The flowers swayed calmly from side to side and their petals were an exquisite sight, glowing in a heavenly glow.

But in reality, it was sapping away all of Sdeing's energy.

Ciel, who was still lying helplessly on the ground, turned his head to the side and frowned at the sight. The garden beneath Sdeing had caught his attention.

He had _never_ seen that technique before. He was certain that Lu didn't possess such an ability.

Sdeing tried desperately to walk out of the garden, but every step he took was slower than the previous one. All of his energy was gradually seeping into Lu's, and his attempt to get out of range of the garden was utterly futile.

Lu gave one massive punch to the top of Sdeing's head and watched the Blacksmith crumble down. He was out cold.

Lu sighed and allowed the dark garden to fade. Her demonic claws dispersed and she rushed back over to Ciel

Ciel finally had enough strength to get off the ground. He rose and shook his head, still feeling numb all over.

The demons were still battling furiously against the Elgang, but after watching Sdeing fall to them, their morale was a thing of the past. They immediately stopped all attacks and ran for their lives. At first, they wanted to run after them and finish them off, but decided to check on Ciel inside. They walked over to them and slowly put their weapons away. Ara gasped as she saw the amount of blood that Ciel had lost.

"Aisha, he needs healing _now._" Raven spoke quickly.

Ciel waved his head dismissively. "No, there's no need."

To everyone's surprise, he was standing up just fine, and didn't need anyone to help him walk. Lu frowned and tugged his sleeve.

"Ciel, what was going on?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Ciel admitted. "My power kept fluctuating, suddenly increasing then decreasing."

"You mean you kept weakening?"

"No, no. I mean…at one moment I was stronger than ever before, then another moment I was too weak to even throw a punch." the assassin explained. "I'm not sure why."

The team frowned, not following. Did he get some sort of illness?

"The Surge…" Lu whispered.

Everyone turned and looked at Lu at the same time.

Lu's eyes were wide open and her skin pale. She seemed in complete shock, and shook her head a few times in denial.

"The…what…?" Elesis asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lu gulped. "What Ciel is going through…it sounds like the Surge. I've been through it too."

"What is the Surge?" Ara questioned. "Is it a disease?"

"No. It's a process. Do you know how demons grow up?"

Ara paused and shook her head. "I don't think so…"

"As you all know, demons have a much longer lifespan than humans. When we reach the age of eighty or ninety, we naturally go through the Surge to grow further." Lu explained.

Raven frowned. "Like…puberty?"

"Of sorts. The Surge is different, though. It transforms us into full-grown demons and changes each individual in a unique way. When the Surge happens to a demon, they'll grow significantly and become far more powerful than before. It's the gateway between a child demon and an adult one."

"Lu," Ciel muttered. "Why do you think _I'm_ going through that?"

"Because the things you say that are happening to your body…it perfectly matches the symptoms of the Surge. When I went through it, I suddenly felt stronger and weaker at complete random, I got extremely dizzy, and I grew my horns."

"But I haven't-"

Ciel stopped. Everyone was staring at him.

More specifically, his head.

With hesitation, Ciel raised his right hand up and traced his palm against the top of his head. The feeling was smooth and silky, as he was only touching his hair, but suddenly felt rough and jagged as his hand reached the right side of his skull. Ciel slowly patted the rough area on his head a few times and felt a large bump. It was pointed and its surface felt like sandpaper.

The assassin couldn't believe it.

"This is…" Ciel whispered, still rubbing his head in disbelief. "…a horn?"

The rest of the team couldn't stop staring. The horn had come out of nowhere and was now large enough for all of them to see. It hung out from the side of his head and was still partially covered by Ciel's white hair, and Rena's keen senses were able to see it glow for a split second.

"This is ridiculous." Draco commented. "A human cannot go through the growth process of demons."

Raven's expression was dark. "Yet, Ciel's appearance keeps changing every day. Hell, that horn confirms it at this point."

"How obvious is it?" Ciel asked slowly, unable to see the horn for himself.

"It's just a small bump for now." Lu answered.

"But it'll get bigger…won't it?"

"Yes…"

Ciel's body felt cold.

Fear hadn't properly found him yet, however. Before he could even begin to worry like the rest of the team was, he had a question he wanted to ask for a while. The only reason he hadn't asked earlier was because he deemed it unnecessary, but not anymore.

Even if the answer was something he didn't want to hear, Ciel needed to know.

"Lu."

"Yes?"

"Has there ever been a half-human, half-demon before?"

Everyone's attention was quickly directed back to Lu.

The small demon looked at the ground. "There have been legends, but nothing solid. The only way a human can even become a half-demon is through a contract, and a contract with a human is considered taboo. If anyone in the Demon Realm found out that a demon made such a contract, they would execute them on sight."

Eve looked confused. "Why is that?"

"I'm not sure, but it may have something to do with our different energies. Every living being has energy within them, but the one that humans and demons possess are _really_ different. Making a contract with those two kinds of energies…is incredibly dangerous."

"Then why did you make one in the first place?" Raven asked.

"I didn't have a choice. I couldn't watch Ciel die!" Lu shouted out angrily, her face red and her eyes watery.

Ciel listened silently as the team kept talking. All of them sounded worried in different ways.

That finally confirmed it for him. He was the only known half-human, half-demon in the entire world. That wasn't helpful in the least. If there was another being like him, then perhaps he could've talked to them and understood more about what was happening to him. But since he was all alone, anything that occurred from this point onwards was completely unclear. He had no idea what he would become once these changes finally stopped.

Would he still be himself? Would he still be Ciel?

The only thing he had to go on was the Surge. Lu had guessed that he was going through that process. If her suspicions were correct…

"Lu," Ciel suddenly spoke. "You said you went through the Surge, right?"

"Huh? Y-Yes, all demons experience it at some point."

"And by the end of it, you were a fully-grown demon?"

"Yes…"

"Tell me," Ciel mumbled, his eyes piercing and dangerously sharp. "How long did it take for the Surge to finish?"

Lu paused.

The Elgang and Ciel stared at her. She lowered her head and answered extremely quietly.

"Three days."

* * *

Everything was finally ready.

Add tossed the last item he needed into the green bag and hauled it over his back. The bag wasn't too heavy, but he still struggled to hold it up right.

He slowly walked over to the exit of the tent with the bag in hand. The Dynamos hovered behind him silently as he brushed aside the thick cloth and stepped out and headed to the edge of the small camp.

This was his chance. The El Search Party had left to investigate Lanox further, and they wouldn't be back for a while. Now was his opportunity to leave Lanox and disappear from the group for good. He had hesitated multiple times so far, his heart wasn't ready to say goodbye to them, but he couldn't put his desires before their safety. He simply couldn't be around them if he wanted them to be okay.

_You're afraid that you'll kill them._

Esper's voice was getting louder inside Add's head every day. He wasn't going to get better, and he certainly wasn't capable to get rid of Esper, so he needed to go. Add knew the true extent of Esper's power more than anyone else. The Elgang was terrified of Glave and saw that strange man as a god, but Esper was an even greater threat. None of them stood a chance at defeating him, and Add didn't want to kill them.

Back when Esper was first created in Add's mind, he went berserk and completely destroyed his own village. He battled against Glave with little effort, and once it was over, he moved over to his family and looked at his mother's corpse.

And as Esper, he didn't care. Not even the sight of his dead mother made him feel a thing. When Add became that person, nothing really mattered to him. That was a horrifying feeling. Add wasn't like that.

_Oh, Add. It's so amusing to watch you trick yourself over and over. I'm not a demon that has possessed you. I'm not a magical creature that can enter people's minds. I'm you. You watched your mother die. You fought against Glave and destroyed your village in the process. It was you. It was all you._

Add kept walking.

Esper was right. No, _he_ was right. Esper wasn't someone else in his mind. Esper was a part of him. A part of him wanted to destroy the world. A part of him wanted to watch Glave suffer. It wasn't someone else.

His mind had simply split his thoughts into two different entities. The only way Add could even remain sane was to believe that 'Esper' was inside him, and only 'Esper' wanted to destroy everything in existence.

But in all honesty, Add knew the truth.

And it frightened him even more.

But one thing still remained true, Add couldn't control himself or his actions when he became Esper. He had to make sure that his mind never slipped again. Leaving the Elgang was the only way to ensure that Esper never got his hands on them.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Add stopped.

He turned around slowly and saw Elsword staring at him. He thought the red-haired kid was asleep.

"Elsword." Add grumbled. This would've been so much easier if he hadn't been caught. "I'm leaving Lanox."

"Without us?"

"That's right."

Elsword calmly held out his left hand and allowed a Conwell sword to materialize in his palm. The sword glowed ominously and awaited its usage. Elsword didn't wave around the sword threateningly, but kept it close to his side as he spoke.

"I can't let you."

"I have to leave."

"Why? So you can abandon us once again?" Elsword said, his tone sharp and pointed.

_Wow. Just listen to that tone. Perhaps we should teach the kid some manners?_

"Please, don't make this hard." Add sighed. "The team is fine without me."

"I want to know why you're leaving. You can't just decide when to have friends and when to throw them away."

"I'm leaving because I _have_ to."

It wasn't easy to make Elsword understand.

How could Elsword understand at all? Add had never explained anything to him. He never told him about Esper and how he could potentially become the person who would bring the end of the world. In Elsword's eyes, Add was simply leaving because he got bored of the team again, or was too selfish to care about the bonds he had made with people.

No, there was no way that Elsword could truly understand Add's feelings. It simply wasn't something that could happen in their situation.

But he still had to go. Even if it meant going by force.

"Elsword, I'm unstable. I cannot explain everything to you now, but I'm dangerous and a threat to your team."

"Add." Elsword shook his head. "You've said this before. You're not dangerous. You're one of us now, and you wouldn't hurt us. I'm sure of that."

"This is different. I'm truly a threat to the team. I have the potential to kill all of you."

Elsword had an uneasy look. "Add, you're not making much sense. You've been with us for a while now and nothing has gone wrong, what's making you say this?"

Add bit his tongue in frustration. He couldn't tell Elsword. He knew the first thing Elsword would do is tell everyone else in the team, and that would only make it more difficult for him to leave. They would all try to stop him from going, completely ignoring the fact that he was a ticking time bomb.

"Please," Add whispered. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You wouldn't hurt us."

"You don't know that."

"What about Eve? Can you really leave her _again_?"

"I'll hurt her if I stay with the team any longer."

"You'll hurt her more by going."

"Elsword. I'm leaving."

The red-haired Knight's grip on his two swords tightened and his expression became sharp. His eyes began to glow as he felt the Dark El's energy gradually surge through him.

"I can't let you." Elsword mutters back, his tone sounding reluctant and forced.

Add grinned.

He gave a genuine smile to the leader of the Elgang. He had no idea, did he?

"Look, with the power of the Dark El on your side, I know I cannot win."

Elsword nodded. "Then give it up."

"But." Add continued.

Without warning, Add closed his eyes and opened them again.

When he opened his eyes and stared at Elsword, the red-haired Knight dropped his Conwell sword. He gasped in horror and took a smile step back.

Add's eyes had changed. His sclera were black and his pupils a dark shade of purple.

"Even if I cannot beat you," Add spoke softly. "The _other_ guy can."

He could feel Esper scratching at the back of his head. If he wasn't careful, Esper would take control of Add right now and destroy everything in sight. His eyes had already been changed permanently.

"Please...let me leave." Add begged quietly.

Elsword looked anxiously at Add and felt his will slowly falter. He could feel a completely different energy radiate out of him.

Add wanted to leave, but Elsword couldn't find it within himself to let that happen. He didn't want Add to abandon the team, he was an important part of it and everyone knew that.

But seeing Add and hearing his words, Elsword knew he would have to fight Add and force him to stay with the Elgang. Could he really do such a thing?

Elsword took a deep breath.

He knew what choice he had to make.

Elsword nodded his head and closed his eyes.

This choice was going to haunt him.


	88. No 71: Burn Brighter

**Hello!**

**This chapter took a few days longer than I expected, and that's because of upcoming tests for a few of my subjects. Next week should be a lot smoother for me.**

**Special thanks to SidewaystheDoubleAgent, Artemicon, and lalala1145 for following/favouring this story! You're super awesome, thank you for the support! C:**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

When the El team finally returned to the city of Lanox, they were all exhausted.

Just hours ago, they had been below the surface, and fought furiously against countless demons. It had been undeniably taxing on all of them, and every single one of them was ready to simply get some well-deserved rest. Lanox had proven to be the toughest and most resilient region they had been to.

No other place could compare. For reasons still unknown to them, the demons here were far stronger than the demons in any other area of Elrios. Not even the demons they battled against during the war for Hamel were as strong as Lanox's demons, somehow.

Lu yawned quickly as they eventually approached their camp, her eyes half-open. She had been holding on to Ciel's arm the entire trip.

"Are…we finally here?" she spoke softly, rubbing her tired eyelids.

Ciel, on the other hand, was completely wide awake. "Yes."

Beside the Duo, Raven and Chung moved slowly as they carried an unconscious Sdeing with them. The blacksmith was finally out of the demonic hypnosis that had plagued him for a long time, but he had been beaten up to the point where it would take him a while to recover.

Ciel wondered what Steel's reaction would be to seeing her father again. Would she be jumping for joy?

He originally agreed to find her father as payment for her to repair his broken Gunblade, but he had long since forgotten that deal. It didn't really matter to him anymore, he only wanted to help her out and reunite her with her family again. Family was important. He knew that all too well.

As they reached the very edge of the camp, they all saw a figure standing in the middle. The figure was slightly illuminated by the fire that had been set up hours ago, but they couldn't see the person properly until they got closer.

Once they did, however, they realized it was Elsword. He simply stood there, his body motionless and his expression emotionless.

His skin was pale and he didn't say anything as the team approached him. It looked like he was hesitating, as though he wanted to tell them all something but couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Elsword!" Elesis smiled, walking up to him first.

She gave him a quick hug and waited for him to hug her back.

He didn't.

Instead, his red eyes stared at the team. "Guys, you might want to sit down."

That caused everyone to frown. They didn't know what he was talking about and why he was acting so strangely. His eyes weren't even looking at them properly, and the area around his eyes seemed moist. It almost looked like he had shed a tear about something.

None of them had seen Elsword this way before, and they all immediately realized that something important must have happened. They remained silent and stared back, their expressions weary.

"What are you talking about? Elesis asked.

Elsword spoke slowly. "I have news. I don't want to be the one to tell you all, but I'm the only one who can."

"Go on them," Raven muttered, his eyes piercingly sharp. "What happened?"

Elsword took a deep breath.

"Add left us."

That was all it took.

Those words were all it ever took.

In an instant, everyone felt their heart sink. Ciel closed his eyes and lowered his head, unable to look at their pained expressions. He heard Raven curse under his breath and Chung whisper something to himself, something that couldn't be properly understood.

"But…why…?" Ara mumbled.

Aisha looked furious. "That _idiot._"

Ciel suddenly remembered Eve.

He opened his eyes again and looked at her.

She didn't say a word. She didn't show any kind of reaction to the team.

She simply turned her back and walked straight back to her tent, pulling folds in front of the entrance to let everyone know that they weren't welcome inside.

But she couldn't hide how she felt.

Because just before Eve had stormed off…

Ciel saw a tear on her cheek.

None of this made sense to him. Add had proven himself unpredictable at times, Ciel could admit that, but this simply hadn't been expected. After all this time, Ciel had assumed that Add had finally become attached to the team, and now it looked like none of that ever mattered to him.

"Did he say why?" Ciel suddenly found himself asking Elsword.

"He said he was a danger to the group. He told me if he stayed with us, only bad things would happen."

Ciel shook his head. "That's not true. He became one of us…"

"How could you let him leave?" Elesis questioned, anger failing to conceal itself in her tone.

"I wanted to stop him, really. I thought I could just beat some sense into him..." Elsword whispered. "But I can't. I can't just force someone to stay. If he doesn't want to be one of us, there's nothing we can do about that."

Elesis tried to calm down. "Did he say where he was going?"

"No, he could be anywhere by now."

Ciel frowned.

Elsword had chosen not to fight Add to keep him from leaving. He expected to be upset about that fact, but he wasn't. In fact, Ciel was relieved that the two of them hadn't fought. There was no way such a thing would end well.

Eventually, the team slowly moved away. They walked lifelessly back to their tents, and the sweet taste of victory that they possessed from defeating Lanox's demons gradually faded, the taste turning bitter. They had lost a dear friend.

For good.

* * *

Draco couldn't understand the team's sorrow.

He never cared about that guy, and he didn't expect anyone else to, either. He was once one of their worst enemies, who cared if he decided to leave and do his own thing? It certainly didn't mean anything.

Besides, Add himself had admitted that he was having a problem with his Nasod Dynamos. He was utterly useless to the team.

Draco stood outside Elesis' tent, simply trying to understand the team's mind-set. Humans were such fickle beings, and nothing they did really made sense to him. They were powerful creatures, which was once a surprise to him, but they were also so weak at the same time. It confused him.

Everyone had gone inside their tents to sleep, but he wasn't tired. The energy inside of him raged on without rest, and a simple battle against demons wasn't enough to exhaust him. It wasn't even close.

Draco lowered his head.

For a moment, he was hit with an idea.

What if he left, just like Add did? He didn't understand Add's reason for his sudden departure, but it wasn't a bad plan. Draco had constantly been worried that he was spending too much time around the team he had once sworn to rip apart. If he was to leave them, perhaps his mind would become clear again and he'd no longer hesitant to crush them all.

But that wasn't an option.

It was only because he was around the Elgang that he was getting stronger. If he decided to leave, he'd no longer have opportunities to increase his strength. Staying with this team of humans might've been softening him up, little by little, but his physically power was growing at a significant rate. Only by remaining by their side and fighting their battles could he reach new limits.

And he _needed_ to be stronger. The rest of the team was also becoming powerful, especially Elsword. Most of them were already ahead of him in terms of strength, and nothing pissed him off more than that fact.

"Draco," he heard a quiet voice suddenly whisper.

He raised his head and looked to his left.

A young girl had approached him. Her hair and eyes were a bright shade of red, and her clothes had ancient writings on them.

"You," Draco mumbled. "You're the Priestess that teleported us here to Lanox to save us, right?"

"That's right. My name is Ignia."

Her voice sounded calm. Her gaze was firm. For some reason, he felt like he had seen her somewhere before. He had never met one of the Priestesses of Elrios, but there was something about her that seemed familiar. The way she talked. The way she looked. It was giving him a strange case of déjà vu.

"What do you want?"

She smiled. "I want to help you."

"Help me?"

"Yes."

"We hardly know each other, what are you talking about?"

"Oh," Ignia giggled, her eyes suddenly glowing in a dark light. "On the contrary, I know you very well, Greater One."

Draco felt his body go cold.

"You…" he managed to mutter.

Draco shook his head, this wasn't possible.

"It's an honour to meet you." Ignia spoke softly, giving him a slow and respectful bow.

This was something difficult for him to fathom.

No one in the world of Elrios knew who he was. His body was now that of a human's, and the only person who ever knew his true identity was Wally, and he was dead now. Draco couldn't think of any way that this Priestess could've figured something like this out.

Draco's tone immediately changed. "You've got three seconds to tell me how you know."

"Relax. I'm not a threat."

"Wrong. You know my identity. That makes you a significant threat."

"Please, give me a moment to explain."

Draco tried to calm himself. He folded his arms and waited for his heart rate to slow down slightly.

"Speak." he commanded.

"I was born as the Fire Priestess. As such, I am naturally skilled in all types of magic. One of my most powerful spells is Physic Binding. With it, I'm able to connect my mind with others and read their thoughts."

Draco frowned. "So, that means…"

"Yes, I looked into your mind and found everything. I know that you are actually one of the Greater Ones, the divine beings that created this world. I _also_ know that you're now a human as punishment for hating humanity."

"You've looked thoroughly through my brain, haven't you?"

"For a good reason." Ignia quickly added, her smile not fading. "I think I can help you."

"How?"

"You want revenge on humans. You wish to slaughter them all, and to do that, you have to defeat the most powerful of them first. The El team is your main target, right?"

"That's right."

"I can help you kill them _all._" she chirped happily. "As a Priestess, I possess the strength of at least three of them combined. I'm invaluable to you."

Draco didn't look pleased in the slightest. "And exactly why would _you_ want to help _me_?"

"Because there's something I want. It's something that I can only achieve if the two of us work together."

"And what is that?"

Ignia's expression darkened but her smile only grew. "The ancient crystal that resides within Elsword. I want the Dark El."

Draco raised an eyebrow.

This girl was just another typical human, caring about nothing except personal wealth and influence. He had seen people like her a thousand times already.

But, she wasn't lying to him. He could tell from sheer instincts alone that she was being honest. He could also sense the magical energy surging through her just by standing by her side. There was no mistaking it, she had a ridiculous amount of magic flowing through her body, and its strength far exceeded that of Aisha's. This girl possessed an incredible amount of power, and the kind of cunning mind-set that Draco could use to his advantage.

Still, he couldn't come to trust someone like her. An action like that would simply be foolish. As a Greater One, he knew a lot about all of the Priestesses that roamed the world. They were all supposed to have pure hearts, so for Ignia to be like this, it raised a few flags. He had no idea what the girl's true agenda really was.

If they really were to partner up, he'd have to watch her every step of the way. He could never allow himself to start trusting her, and he had to remember that she was simply a means to an end.

"Even if I _did_ accept," Draco whispered, looking around slowly to make sure no one had left their tents to hear this conversation. "I doubt you even have a plan. You seriously expect to defeat these warriors by just attacking them?"

Ignia tilted her head. "I am not a fool, Lord Draco."

"Don't call me that."

"But you are a God." she protested, a frown finding its way onto her face.

"Not anymore. Call me Draco."

She paused. "Very well. Draco, I'm already well aware that we are not able to beat them all. But that's not even my objective."

"Then what is it?"

"Killing Elsword, of course."

Draco nodded slowly. "Right, because you can then absorb the Dark El and its power."

"No, _we_ will absorb it!" Ignia almost shook with excitement from the thought. "And with it, none of the other members will be able to even touch us. You will become more powerful than ever, and with the El team out of the picture, you'll be free to do what you want!"

"And you?"

"I will serve under you, of course." Ignia bowed her head. "To fight for a Greater One is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

It made sense to him.

Yes, if they could somehow kill Elsword, then the rest of the team would be easy to defeat. The energy that the Dark El held was practically limitless, and it was undeniably alluring to obtain.

But Draco still hesitated. Everyone across Elrios knew very well that only certain people could actually withstand becoming one with the Dark El. It was still unclear what the criteria were, but even though Elsword managed to do it, Draco doubted his own chances. If he wasn't able to absorb the Dark El properly, it would simply consume his body and destroy him from the inside. Everything he worked so hard for would just vanish inside the empty vastness of the El's abyss.

He would basically be risking his own life just to gain a boost in strength.

"Too risky." Draco grumbled. "I doubt I'd be able to consume the Dark El before it consumes me."

"But that boy…" Ignia muttered. "Elsword was able to do it, and he's simply just a child! _You_ are an almighty being from another world!"

She didn't seem to get it. It wasn't about that.

It had to be about strength of heart. It was the only thing that Draco could think of. Elsword's heart must've been unbelievably firm in order to withstand the Dark El's influence, it would explain how an ordinary human would be able to pull it off despite their weak, feeble bodies. If that was the case, Draco wondered if his heart was up to the same challenge.

"I'm not like that kid. He's different, and there's something about him that allowed him to endure the Dark El's influence." he spoke quietly for a moment. "But, if the two of us absorb that crystal together…"

"It should lessen the strain on both of us, right?"

Draco nodded.

"That's the most logical conclusion. I highly doubt either of us can take on its power alone, but we definitely would stand a good chance if we claimed it at the same time."

"So we have a deal?" Ignia's expression brightened up, and only bothering Draco further.

He hesitated. "Can the two of us _really_ kill someone like Elsword. A child or not, he still has all that power lurking within him."

"Don't worry about that."

Ignia moved slightly closer towards him. He frowned as she reached out her hand.

He didn't take it, but she wasn't expecting him to either. She used her hand to place it under his, and the two of their hands were tightly pressed together. Draco simply stared, wondering why her palm was under his hand, but then he slowly came to understand as Ignia gradually heated up her skin.

"Create a flame, Draco." she smiled, looking at his hand in anticipation.

Reluctantly, Draco gave a grunt and summoned a small ball of fire. It hovered just above his hand, its flames dancing calmly around its edge.

"Think of it this way…" Ignia continued, her voice soft and relaxing. "When you are alone, you are a small ember of fire."

For some reason, he found himself listening to her words carefully. He kept looking at the small fire in his hands as her voice spoke in almost a poetic fashion.

"I am the same, Draco. Alone, I am nothing but a tiny wisp of flames. The world can barely see a light like me, and my heat is not powerful enough to even feel."

Suddenly, Draco felt the back of his hand burn up furiously as Ignia held firmly onto it and increased the intensity of heat in her palm.

With just a measly amount of fire given from Ignia, Draco watched in complete awe as the small ball of fire in his hand grew rapidly, its calm flames now savagely bursting in and outwards and its colour changing from a dark red to a light shade of blue. Without any of his own input, the fire he had made with little effort was now like a miniature star in his hand, and all Ignia had done was combine a small ounce of her magic with his.

"But what happens…when two embers share their flames…?" Ignia whispered, her voice playfully tuneful.

"This is…" Draco mumbled back, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Ignia then stopped and clasped Draco's hands in hers. She held his warm hands tightly, closed her eyes, and just by contact alone, the same blue flames surged ominously around them. The two beings were now completely engulfed in deadly flames, the kind of fire that could never stop burning, and would scorch anything in its path.

The fire in their hearts had combined to make something new.

Ignia kept her eyes closed, and giggled happily as their limitless power sizzled and burnt the ground beneath them, then answered her own question.

"**The two embers become an undying fire."**


	89. Author's Note 4

Sorry guys, I got bad news.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, all my stories need to be put off for a while. The delay will probably cause the next chapter to take two weeks (or more) to come out.

I'm really sorry for this, but my current situation is holding me back from releasing chapters as fast as I usually do. I hope you understand.


	90. No 72: The Death of Ciel

**Phew, finally done.**

**Thank you for waiting, I know it's been a while since the last chapter!**

**Special thanks to RamblyStorytellingGuy, Chaos Champion Prime, Lucretia-Herschell, pheiral, and DeathByLechee for following/favouring this story! You're super awesome! C:**

**Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy C:**

* * *

"_Damn it!"_

Ciel rolled across the floor, hugging his body with desperation.

Lu was in the tent with him, watching worriedly as the assassin continued to growl in pain and toss and turn. She didn't know what to do for him.

As he crawled into the corner of the tent, he bit on his sleeve and tried to endure the absolute agony surging through him. He remembered Lu telling him about what he was going through, the Surge, and that it would change him in the span of three days, and now there was only two days left for him. He groaned and kicked away furniture angrily, this process felt like it was tearing him apart. He didn't know how he was going to survive this when it was going to continue until the day after tomorrow.

Already, the small stub that had appeared out of his head was now fully-grown. He had a large horn on the right side of his side now, tall and jagged, and far more noticeably than Lu's. He could feel the horn break through his skull and force itself past his scalp, and the sensation was utterly excruciating.

His left eye stung too, and he could barely open it up anymore. He feared that if he opened it, he'd be hit by even more pain.

"Ciel…" Lu whispered, tears at the edge of her eyes. "Do you need me to bring anything? Water or food?"

Ciel growled again and slammed his head against a chair.

He waited until the pain had subsided slightly before answering her. "N-No, I'm…f-fine."

He knew that this was probably hurting Lu as well.

Not physically, but mentally. All day, all she could do was watch helplessly as he tried to battle against constant agony, Ciel knew it must've felt frustrating for her not to be able to do anything about it.

"Lu," Ciel muttered.

"Y-Yes?"

"You…said that you went through the Surge too, right…?"

"That's right." Lu quickly nodded.

"Was…there…so much pain?"

Lu slowly shook her head. "No, it wasn't painful for me. You're mostly likely experiencing this pain because you're a human going through a demon's growth process."

Ciel's head jerked back as another wave of agony washed over him. He collapsed onto the bed nearby and lied down there, chewing weakly on the blanket to hold back his screams. He didn't want to show all of this weakness in front of Lu, but it simply wasn't possible to hide it, it felt like his entire body was on fire and burning away little by little.

His vision became blurred and he could barely see Lu's face, but he could hear her crying now.

"Get…out…" he mumbled.

Lu wept small tears. "I can't!"

"_I said get out!" _Ciel found himself suddenly roaring at her.

Lu was startled but did as he asked, quickly running out of the tent to leave him be.

She was only getting more and more sad by watching him in this state, sending her out was something that Ciel knew he needed to do. He guessed that she was probably blaming all of this on herself, considering that she made him a half-demon in the first place, and seeing him like this would only make things worse.

Shaking uncontrollably, Ciel fell out of the bed and hit the floor hard. He couldn't stay still, not with all this pain slowly breaking him down.

But was more than just his body that was being consumed, it was his mind as well. He could feel memories suddenly…disappear from existence. Every time he recalled something important to him, it quickly faded away without any kind of warning, and Ciel was struggling to put all the scattered memories back together.

For a moment, he forgot where he was. Was he back at that peaceful village? He had a home there. A nice, comfortable, and quiet home, with caring and lovable neighbours. He would always stay in his house there, taking regular breaks from his job as an assassin. It wasn't the most luxurious of lives, but it was one that he was happy with.

Then…his life was interrupted as a girl appeared. Lu. She was the start of his completely new life.

His memories of that village soon turned to dust, and Ciel couldn't remember anything about it anymore. Did he even live there?

He screamed at the top of his lungs as he felt his skin harden, his nails become black and sharp, and his body hold in too much demonic energy. He could feel his very bones crackle, break, then repair themselves to grow stronger and more resilient. He found himself growling savagely, like an animal, as his teeth grew and became pointed.

He was losing himself. He was becoming a demon.

A mindless demon that would attack anything in its way. That was the kind of demon that the Elgang had been fighting for so long, and it was exactly what Ciel knew he was transforming into.

Lu could suddenly come back and find a savage demon waiting in her tent, instead of her friend, Ciel.

He didn't want that. He wanted to stay as Ciel, as the man that Lu always depended on. He didn't want to transform into something else.

With small wisps of darkness circling around his body, he felt his consciousness slowly fade. The Surge was working relentlessly on changing his physically appearance, now it needed to reach in to the deepest parts of Ciel's mind and erase everything.

"No…" Ciel gasped as his eyes gradually closed and he was swept away into a cold sleep.

* * *

The smell of pancakes was in the air.

Ciel was twelve, smaller and much skinner. He stood in the kitchen with a thin, hand-knitted apron on him. He patiently waited as the pancakes quietly sizzled on the pan, anxious to try some of them.

A girl slowly walked into the room. She took a seat at the nearby table and watched Ciel prepare their breakfast.

"This is your first time making pancakes, isn't it?" she asked softly, a giggle in her voice.

Ciel nodded, his eyes still on the frying pan. "Yeah, I haven't really made food before, but it's pretty fun. I want to make something more difficult for lunch."

"Hehe, just try not to make it poisonous."

Ciel chuckled and flipped the pancake.

They were in a house. Wooden, small, and old. It looked more like a shack than a proper house, but they were lucky to even have this place. It was only months before that they were on the streets, where their home was the cold and damp roads. To them, this place was paradise, and a chance to start a new life.

"Well," Ciel smiled, grabbed one of the pancakes and placing it onto a clean plate. "One of them is ready, dig in, Sis."

His eyes looked at his little sister.

She had a huge grin on her face as the plate was handed to her. Her eyes were bright blue, her long black hair tidy and straight despite just waking up, and her laughter of joy was heart-warming.

"Yay!" she said as she immediately grabbed her fork and took a large bite out of it.

He was glad he could finally see his sister's smile. Back in their previous life, they were never happy. They were all alone and homeless, so it was impossible to ever see a genuine smile from her. Seeing it after all this time was undeniably relieving.

Without their parents, it was difficult for them to find a way off the streets. Ciel eventually found a way, but he never told his sister what it was. If she knew that he had joined criminal groups to get money, she would be devastated, but thankfully she hadn't asked yet. She probably already knew that the answer was something she didn't want to hear.

But Terre was his joy. He promised himself that he would protect her, and never allow what happened to their parents happen to her as well. She would always be safe with him.

_Are you sure about that?_

Ciel looked around. He dropped the pan on the floor and was now alerted. He had heard something. He had heard someone's voice.

"Terre, I think we have an intruder in the house, get down." Ciel warned, grabbing a kitchen knife.

"What are you talking about, who's Terre?"

Ciel glanced back and frowned. "You're Terre."

"Me? I'm not her." the little girl shook her head.

At first, Ciel was confused, but gradually understood something was wrong as Terre's face began to blur out.

It became shrouded in shadows for a few moments, then revealed an entirely new face. This new person had large, blue eyes and a devilish grin. Ciel recognized it.

His sister had turned into Lu.

"W-What…?" he whispered.

He realized what was going on.

He was dreaming. This had to be a hallucination of sorts. He was having a dream about his long lost sister, and now it was slowly turning into a nightmare. He wanted to wake up now that he knew this, but he couldn't.

"What happened with Terre?" the dream version of Lu asked Ciel, her expression now blank.

Ciel remained silent for a couple of seconds. This was all in his head. This Lu wasn't the real Lu, he was just dreaming her up.

But he found himself talking anyway. "I lost her."

"When?"

"A few years after losing our parents." Ciel mumbled. Even though he was in a dream, he still felt tired. "I promised to protect her, but bandits raided our house one day…and she was taken from me."

Dream Lu nodded calmly. "She died."

"Yes."

"_You_ let her die."

"I did."

"And why is that?" Dream Lu asked in a different tone, tilting her head to the side.

"Because I wasn't strong enough."

"What happened to the bandits?"

"I killed them."

Ciel's house now began to change.

The clean floor was now covered in blood. There were guts everywhere, furniture had been smashed and destroyed, and several corpses were in the room.

One bandit was still alive. He gasped a few times, rolled over, and cried as it took in his last breath and closed his eyes.

"What a mess." Dream Lu commented, looking a little distraught. "So, out of rage, you killed all of the invaders."

"Yeah…" Ciel spoke softly, looking at the bandits.

It all looked so real. This dream was recreating old memories perfectly. He almost couldn't tell that this was just all in his head.

He glanced back at the fake Lu. She was still sitting in the chair, smiling at him as though nothing was wrong.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Lu, can't you tell?"

Ciel shook his head. "You're not her, and you can't be something made up in my head either. You're something else."

The image passed for a few moments.

She was still smiling, and even laughed using Lu's voice, but when it began talking again it sounded slightly different.

"You're correct. Unlike your surroundings right now, I am not a figment of your dream."

"Then, what are you?"

"I am the physical manifestation of the energy that Lu has bestowed upon you."

Ciel paused. "You're…her energy…?"

"That's right. Back when you were about to die, Lu passed on a small piece of her energy to you in order for you to survive. I am that."

"How are you talking then?"

"The energy of a demon is different from those of human's." the fake Lu explained, getting out of its chair and moving slowly towards Ciel. "It can gradually gain its own consciousness and think for itself. That's why demons can be consumed by their own energy, but humans cannot."

"I…didn't know."

"Well, demons tend to keep that fact a secret. They've always been obsessed with being the superior race to humans. If all humans knew this fact, then…"

"Why do you look like Lu, though?"

"Since I wanted to talk to you, I thought I'd choose a physical form that you'd be comfortable communicating with."

"I see. I get it now."

"Good."

"But," Ciel continued, his frown furrowing. "I don't understand why you're talking to me, and in my dream no less."

"As a small part of Lu's energy, I share her feelings." the fake Lu spoke softly, and in a different tone. "I…want to help you. The process of the Surge is almost complete, so you don't have much time left…"

Ciel couldn't believe what this illusion was telling him, but it was all true.

The dream world around them started to collapse. Ciel could tell that the last shred of his consciousness was being torn apart for the new Ciel to take place. If he ever woke up from this dream, he would probably wake up a completely different person.

He looked back at the fake Lu one last time, and took in a deep breath.

"How can you help me now? I've been forced into this dream, which means I'm not even in control of my own mind anymore. I'm going to fade away at any second."

"Ciel, you know that if you turn into a mindless demon, your friends will put you down. Lu will definitely hesitate, but the rest of the El team won't."

"I'm aware of that, and grateful."

"But it doesn't have to be like that, I can change it." the fake Lu spoke hopefully, yet slightly unsure. "I…think."

"You have a plan in mind?"

"Yes, though I have my doubts that it'll work."

"I'm out of options, so I'm all ears."

The energy nodded. "You see…I am the reason that you are going through the Surge right now. Once it is completed, there's supposed to be nothing of you left, but I can change that."

"How?"

"I can use up my existence inside you to save a part of you that will remain in the new Ciel."

"You can…save a part of me?"

"I believe so."

"How much can you save exactly?" Ciel asked, his expectations low.

The fake Lu went silent for a moment and closed its eyes.

It was searching through Ciel's transforming body to find the answer to that question. It took a few moments, but eventually sensed the amount that it could save from being consumed.

"I think…" the fake Lu talked.

"Yes?"

"I think…one trait."

"One trait…?"

"Yeah. It'll be a little difficult, but I can save a trait of yours to be carried on to your new self."

Ciel looked down and felt his throat sting.

That was barely anything at all.

Granted, it was better than losing _all_ of himself, but his hopes had still been higher.

That still meant that all of his memories would be erased. Everything he remembered about his family, his friends, all of the time he spent with the El team, and so much more…it would all just disappear soon.

That was what he feared most. He didn't want to forget everything.

Instead of complaining, however, Ciel kept a straight face. "I suppose that is my fate, then."

"Yes…" fake Lu nodded. "Now, what trait of yourself do you want to save?"

Ciel thought for a moment.

Not his cooking. That didn't matter. He always enjoyed making food for others, but it definitely wasn't essential.

Perhaps he could choose to keep his extensive knowledge of the battlefield. He had developed so many fighting techniques over the years, it wouldn't be good to lose them all.

All different kinds of ideas continued to float around in Ciel's head.

But he realized he had already made up his mind.

The answer to him was obvious. There was one thing he valued more than his own life.

And even if he lost everything about himself, if this trait of his could remain, he would still keep an important part of what made him Ciel.

"Alright, I've decided."

"Okay, good. The process is about to start." it spoke slightly frantically. The dream world around them had completely collapsed and Ciel was beginning to fade away. "Tell me, Ciel, what is it?"

The assassin smiled.

As he slowly turned into nothingness, he took in a deep breath, pictured everyone's face in his mind, and answered.

"I want to keep my will to protect Lu."

* * *

He woke up.

With no thoughts in his mind, he slowly stood up and looked around the room.

He was in a tent. His tent. He didn't recognize it.

His white hair was long, reaching all the way down his back. A large, blue horn stuck out from the right side of his head. It towered up and scraped against a wall he moved to the centre of the room.

He felt strange. His body was burning up, overwhelmingly. He could feel an immeasurable amount of energy sizzling through his veins. It was like a constant boost of adrenaline, around tenfold.

But he was calm. His eyes were half-open, his shoulders were slumped, and he walked casually around the tent. He touched the chairs, then the table in the corner, and traced his palm against other objects. He was in a complete daze.

A girl burst into the tent with a glass of water in her hands. She panted as she entered.

"Ciel! I got you some water, maybe it'll help calm you dow-"

Lu froze.

She stared at the demon standing in the tent. She lost her grip on the glass and smashed as it fell to the floor.

Her skin had gone pale and she looked sick.

"…_Ciel…?"_

Her voice was quieter than a whisper, and she shook her head slowly in disbelief.

The demon looked at her, all emotion drained from his face. His voice was void of any sort of normal human speech as he answered.

And his answer sent a cold shiver down Lu's spine.

"Who…is Ciel…?"


	91. No 73: Broken

**Hey there! Thank you for your patience, the next chapter is up!**

**Special thanks to avetta for favouring this story! You rock!**

**Also, I wanted to clarify this because someone asked. Everyone so far is in their third class path except for Elesis, Ara, and Aisha. Hope that clears it up C:**

**Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy! C:**

* * *

"The _hell?_"

Everyone was staring intently at Ciel, their expressions easy to read.

Right after Ciel had gone through his transformation into a full demon, Lu raced out into the camp and told the team. Now they were glaring at him, some with concern and others with confusion.

Raven seemed angry. "How did this happen? You don't just lose your memory."

"I don't know," Lu spoke quietly, sounding as though she was about to burst into tears. "The Surge must have done this to him. He doesn't even remember me."

Ciel listened silently, standing behind Lu.

It was true, he didn't recognize anyone here. They all acted like he should, but that simply wasn't the case.

He didn't care, either. None of these people mattered to him. They were all getting so emotional about his condition for no reason. As expected of petty humans, however.

"Ciel, do you remember _anything?_" Rena asked desperately, approaching him and holding his left hand. "Anything at all? About us?"

The demon paused, thought extensively for a moment, trying to recall any kind of memory about this Elf, but there was nothing. "No. I do not know you, or anyone else here."

Everyone was thrown into distraught from hearing Ciel say it himself.

He was confused and felt lost. He had just woken up into a world where so many people acted like they knew him, and they kept calling him 'Ciel' despite the fact that he couldn't recall ever being named that. Nothing really made sense to him.

His first instinct was to run. He didn't know where he was, and the most logical course of action was to flee, but he didn't.

He had an overwhelming feeling in his heart. The only thing he could feel there anymore, the impulse to remain at Lu's side.

He didn't recognize the little girl. Her eyes were bright yet ominous, and her hair was as white as snow. Regardless of the fact that she was a stranger to him, he found it impossible to leave the girl. A gut feeling held firmly onto him, enforcing the order to watch over her even if he knew nothing about her.

Who was this girl? Ciel decided it didn't matter. All of his instincts were telling him to stay close to her, so that was what he would do.

He wanted to talk properly to this girl, but she seemed far too upset for a conversation. She kept insisted that he knew her and that he should remember her, looking heartbroken that he couldn't.

It made no sense to him. Perhaps he was suffering from memory loss like everyone was saying, but he couldn't suddenly remember them all because they wanted him too. None of them were even remotely familiar, why couldn't they just accept that?

"Should we take Ciel to see a doctor?" Ara asked the team.

"There aren't any doctors in Lanox." Raven sighed. "We have to find a way out of this god forsaken region first."

There it was again. _Ciel._

Everyone was still calling him that. He didn't appreciate that they were all addressing him by a name he couldn't recall having, but he soon reached to the conclusion that it didn't bother him. He would've preferred being able to choose what to be called, but the name Ciel wasn't bad. It rolled off the tongue well.

While the El team discussed in despair on what to do about Ciel, he silently tried to piece things together. Obviously, he had some kind of special relationship with this white-haired girl. She acted like the two of them knew each other very well. This team of fighters were also supposed to be important to him.

He hadn't forgotten everything. For one, he knew that he wasn't a true demon. His body had become that of a demon's, but something told him that this wasn't always the case. Something caused him to become like this. Perhaps that is why his memory was damaged.

But he was drawing a blank for everything else. He simply had to take these strangers' word that he was their friend.

Friends. The word sounded weak. Insignificant.

"For one thing," Elsword finally spoke up, being the most quiet person up until now. "We should be grateful that Ciel wasn't consumed completely. He could've become a full-on savage. Memory loss is much better than that."

The team nodded in agreement, though it didn't lift their spirits in the slightest.

Chung sat down on his Destroyer, looking tired both physically and mentally. "I don't want to sound pessimistic, but things have been getting worse and worse lately. Elsword absorbed the Dark El, Add left us without any explanation, and now Ciel's been turned to a full demon. Our team is starting to fall apart."

"Yes." Raven agreed despite not wanting to admit it. "We decided to take on more than we can. Just a handful of people aren't enough to wipe out an entire demon army. We should've realized this sooner."

Rena frowned. "We can't just give up, not when we're so close. We're finally in Lanox, the heart of the army. Are you saying we should just turn our backs?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Raven grumbled, sounding absolutely serious. "This is the last straw. It's obvious that we will only lose more and more of ourselves by pushing our bodies too far."

"So, what's your plan?" Lu asked, her hands on her hips.

"I can talk to Edan, arrange an escort to take us back to Ruben, or Elder. It doesn't matter."

"_You_ can leave Lanox if you want." Rena snapped back, obviously upset. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Rena…"

"No, Raven, I'm serious. If we don't do this, no one else will. The El Search Party is the only hope humans have left of stopping the demons plaguing our land."

"Our team is too worn out."

"Let the team speak for itself." Rena quickly answered back, then turned to Chung, seeing his head hung low. "What about you, Prince? Will you just turn around and leave?"

The Prince remained quiet for a moment, the sign of inner conflict written all over his face.

"You _know_ I don't want to give up," Chung begun before shaking his head. "But we can't take more of this. We just aren't strong enough. Instead, we should turn around and go back to Hamel. We can call for backup, and since my father is finally back to normal, he can help us too. We shouldn't try to clear out Lanox all by ourselves."

"We don't have that kind of time!" Rena yelled, losing her self-control for a moment. "Everyone here in Lanox could be dead by the time we go to Hamel and come back!"

"Calm down, Rena." Raven hushed.

The Elf was still angry, but she realized she had raised her voice too high and tried to relax herself. Losing her temper wasn't going to solve anything, and she knew that well.

While the El fighters continued to discuss whether or not Lanox should be abandoned, Lu turned back to Ciel with her eyes still watery. It was clear she still heartbroken and torn.

"Ciel…" she whispered. "I'm so sorry…this is all my fault."

"I do not understand, but you are forgiven."

"You…" she mumbled.

"Yes?"

"You're not Ciel at all, are you…?"

Those words didn't bother him. "I told you already, I do not remember anyone named Ciel. If that is what you want to call me, then fine, but I am not him."

"Do you really remember nothing?" she protested, holding out her small hands and grasping his.

"No."

"You saved me, Ciel. You saved my life, and we became partners together, remember?"

"Not at all."

"You promised to stay by my side and protect me, even though you didn't have to. Even after I made you into a half-demon, you always stood by me."

"That does not sound familiar."

"Remember…" Lu wept, her voice now filled with desperation. _"Please just remember!"_

The demon stared at the little girl, unable to comfort her.

This was probably the moment where he was supposed to feel sad like she did, but no kind of emotion reached him. He didn't have feelings like everyone else seemed to have. He wasn't sure why.

"I cannot be the Ciel you once knew, but that shouldn't be a problem." he eventually answered.

"Huh?"

"Something is telling me to remain by your side, so I shall. Perhaps that could bring my memory back."

Lu wiped away a tear and tilted her head. "Maybe…"

Even in this tense situation that he was in, and even though he couldn't remember anything, Ciel was the only one to keep a cool head. No matter who he was in his previous life, he didn't seem bothered that he had forgotten it all.

He moved his attention back to the rest of the team, whom were all still talking.

"I will also stay and fight." Ara announced confidently. "Those who want to leave can do so, but I can't when we're so close. The true commander _has_ to be here in Lanox. We can end this and finally go home!"

Aisha nodded. "Damn the consequences, I'm staying too."

The mage then looked at Elsword, expecting him to give an answer too.

The Knight didn't hesitate or take any time to think about his resolve. He already knew what he was going to do. "I'll cleanse Lanox with my own two hands. We have the Dark El on our side too, we can do this."

"Elsword." Raven muttered, looking slightly concerned. "Don't talk about the Dark El like it's a tool. Just because you absorbed it doesn't mean you have full control over it."

"I _can_ control it. I know using something like the Dark El isn't something we should be proud of, but you can't deny how helpful it can be."

"But the moment you lose control over it…"

Elsword's stare was firm. "I won't."

Ciel listened in. It honestly didn't matter to him.

He didn't care about killing demons or helping people. He knew he probably should, but he didn't. He would simply remain close to Lu. Whether she decided to leave or stay would apply to him as well.

But despite not speaking out loud, Ciel also believed that their most logical choice was to abandon the mission and flee Lanox. As a demon himself, he could sense the amount of demonic influence in the region, and he could tell that none of these fighters were ready to face it. They were simply out of their league.

"What is your decision?" he asked Lu without a hint of emotion.

Lu slowly turned to him, then hesitated. "I won't leave Lanox. I haven't reached my goal yet."

"What is your goal?"

Lu looked slightly surprised, but quickly realized why he was asking. "Oh, that's right…you've forgotten why we're here in the first place…"

"Indeed."

"I want to claim my rightful title as Overlord to all demons."

"If it's your title, why are you fighting for it?"

"Because I was betrayed by a friend."

"I see."

"And…you promised you would put me on the throne."

"Oh." Ciel whispered softly. This was all news to him. "That's quite a promise for me to make."

"You don't remember it either?"

"No, but a promise is a promise." he shrugged unenthusiastically. "I will see that it's done."

Usually, when Ciel would talk to Lu, it would make her feel like there was nothing wrong with the world. She could always depend on him to make her feel better.

But her once-human partner didn't seem to have any feelings at all, and talking to him gave her no warmth at all. It was like she could hardly recognize him anymore, and she was already beginning to miss his easy-going and calm smile.

Something told her that Ciel was never going to smile again.

Just as everyone had begun to quiet down and the arguments slowly died out, they saw someone rushing frantically towards them.

Red hair. Red clothes. Elesis.

And her eyes were full of tears.

Everyone had thought she was still asleep, but were immediately alerted as they saw her crying. She approached them and was quickly hugged by Elsword, who looked the most concerned.

"Sis, what's wrong?"

It took a moment for Elesis to stop weeping and talk, and even when she did her voice was high-pitched and pained. "D-Draco…he's-!"

Elsword frowned. "Draco's what?"

"He's gone!"

It failed to register with everyone for a few seconds, but Raven was the first to react by growling. "And _another_ deserter. First Add takes off, and now…"

Raven chose not to finish his sentence, suddenly seeing the pain in Elesis' eyes. He didn't expect her to be this upset about his departure, but thought it wise to not say anything more.

"What do you mean 'gone'?" Elsword asked, his voice dangerously grim.

"Here," she whimpered quietly, handing him a small, ripped piece of paper. "I woke up with this next to my bed."

Elsword carefully took the paper out of his sister's hand and stared firmly at it, reading it out loudly for the team to hear.

_Elesis, we've been travelling together for a long time now._

_We've experienced a lot of things on the road, but I'm out. I don't want to be involved with you any longer. I'm not the kind of man you think I am, I'm not even human. _

_My original goal was to kill your brother, Elsword, and whoever called themselves his friend. That was all for personal reasons, but being your partner made me hesitant. _

_I became weaker and weaker just by being around you, and that's unacceptable._

_So I've taken off with Ignia, we're going to the Volcanic Temples and we're not coming back. _

_Farewell, soldier of the Red Knights, and good riddance._

Elsword glared silently at the note.

This was definitely news to everyone else. Draco had been planning on killing Elsword the whole time? None of them could actually imagine such a thing.

It was true that they never knew much about him, and that he rarely spoke, but they were still shocked. They now knew that one of their enemies had been travelling with them this whole time, and that he could've attacked them at any point in their journey.

"I…" Elsword opened his mouth to comment on the subject, paused for a moment, then decided against it. He didn't know what to say about this revelation.

Raven did so instead. "He left with Ignia? What business does he have with a Priestress?"

"I don't know…" Elesis answered, finally calmed down. She was still raked with sadness but had mostly regained her composure. "He never even talked about her to me before."

"Well, that's not our problem anyway."

"What do you mean by _that?_"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "I mean, if he decided to leave then that's his choice. We shouldn't linger on it."

"No, Raven, we're going after him."

"What…?" the scarred man frowned heavily. "Why would we do that…?"

"I'm not letting him leave,"

"He wanted to kill your own brother."

"No…" Elesis muttered, shaking her head. "I have to hear that for myself. I won't believe it until he looks me in the eye and says that."

"That's unwise, I assure you."

"I'm going after him anyway."

Raven only seemed confused at this point. "Why do you care so much? We hardly know anything about him."

"You…don't understand." was all that Elesis responded.

Ciel watched the situation unfold from behind Lu.

He had already figured exactly why Elesis cared about Draco, and why she wanted to go after him.

The Red Knight Commander had feelings for him.

But Ciel didn't bother to say anything about it. Nothing would be accomplished by announcing that to everyone. If the Knight wanted to go after that man, then that was her choice and no one else's.

"If she's going, I have to go too." Elsword quickly added. "I want to confront Draco about this as well."

The leader of the El team had spoken. If he was going, then everyone else would naturally follow along by instinct, and Raven realized there wasn't any way to avoid it. He simply sighed instead and gave up.

It was decided, they would go after Draco.

"Still," Raven murmured. "I find it strange that Draco specified where he was going. The paper said something about Volcanic Temples?"

Elsword nodded in agreement. "Yeah, when Add left, he didn't even give a hint about where he'd go. Why would Draco tell us exactly where he went?"

No one understood it, but didn't complain either. At least they wouldn't have to go on a massive search for him.

As the team all faced different directions and tried to take in all of the recent misfortunes happening to them, Elsword found himself staring at his sister.

He had never expected her to be so attached to Draco, and it worried him. He needed to follow her to make sure she didn't go soft once they confronted him. Elesis was usually the more responsible, cautious, and professional Knight, but this time Elsword knew that he would have to take that role instead. One of their friends had turned out to be their enemy, there was nothing more dangerous than that, and if the situation came where he'd have to put down Draco for his sister, he wouldn't hesitate.

Maybe Elesis would forever hate him if he killed Draco, but Elsword didn't care. If that traitor even tried to hurt Elesis, there would be no mercy from him.

He agreed to let Elesis go after Draco, he knew that, but he would be careful.

He sighed, looking out into the crimson, ominous hills in the distance, then back at his team. Mostly at Ciel.

Much to his own concern, he hardly recognized the assassin. Ciel was no longer human, he had completely lost himself and become a new person.

Elsword thought of something, but didn't dare say it out loud. He didn't want to.

He had sworn to not hesitate to kill Draco if things went south.

But if Ciel also revealed himself to be danger towards the El team…

Well…

He still wouldn't hesitate.

* * *

Add woke up with a terrible headache.

How long had he been asleep? He didn't know. Maybe an hour. Maybe only a few minutes.

He slowly pulled himself up, placing both his hands onto the rocks next to him to help him sit up properly.

He'd been living in this cave for a few days now, only sitting around and sleeping. This was the first time in his life that he was simply lying around doing nothing. Usually, he'd been tinkering with his Dynamos or drawing up new blueprints.

But now…he chose to do absolutely nothing.

Where was he, anyway? He didn't know that, either.

When he decided to leave Lanox, he just walked and walked until his legs could no longer carry him. He stumbled along this cave, and reluctantly made it his new home. It wasn't the best place to stay, but he was simply too exhausted to keep travelling, and the cave _did_ cover him from the regular rain.

From the slightly chilly weather, Add presumed he was somewhere in the region of Hamel, but that was just a guess. He had no proper way of knowing.

He _would've_ been able to just fly off to someplace better, but of course, his Dynamos didn't respond to him anymore. He had allowed Esper to take control of them, and now he couldn't do anything with the devices.

But he was happy with how things turned out. He had left the El Search Party, which meant that Esper wouldn't get his hands on them. He knew that they probably hated him now for abandoning them, but he was fine with that. They could hate him as much as they wanted as long as they were safe.

Still, he would feel an unpleasant sensation inside of himself whenever he thought about how Eve reacted. He didn't get to see her reaction, but it was likely that she hated him too. This was the second time he had left them, after all.

The first time he left the team out of selfishness. He had obtained the ability to travel through time, and thought that he didn't need them anymore. That was foolish of him, and he eventually realized that.

But this time he left them because he _had_ to. There was no other choice.

_Wow, you're so heroic. I'm sure your friends really appreciate that._

Add growled and closed his eyes.

At the most random times, Esper's voice would boom loudly inside his head.

_They'll always see you as a bad person now. You left them without a word. They all despise you._

"I'm fine with that." Add muttered to himself.

_You're lying, I can tell. You already miss them…don't you?_

He did.

But that didn't matter.

All this time Add had been trying to go back to his own era. He wanted to go back to his family and live peacefully again.

What he didn't realize was that the El team had become his new family. He could never understand that until now.

And as his family, they were all important to him. He didn't want to expose them to the monster living inside him. Even if it meant staying away from them for the rest of his life, he would be willing to make that sacrifice.

_You'll never get to see Eve though. I thought you were quite fond of her._

Add paused for a moment, then lowered his head. "I know I'll never see her again, but that's how things must be."

_Then, what's your plan now? Just how long are you planning on sitting in this cave?_

"I don't know. I guess I'll just keep living here, though I'll probably die from the cold at some point." Add answered back casually.

His clothes were a mess, torn and ripped. They weren't going to help against the cold weather in the slightest.

_So, you've chosen to just die a meaningless death, in the middle of nowhere._

"To be honest," Add chuckled dryly, a hint of a smile on his face. "It's pretty fitting for someone like me."

_What do you mean by that?_

"It's better for me to just…disappear. Poof. Gone."

_We can do so much together, Add. We can watch this world burn into flames and live in pure ecstasy. What you're doing now is just pointless._

"Sorry, but not happening. I know I'm a messed up guy, but I'm not _that_ messed up."

_Urgh, you're so stubborn._

"And you're annoying."

Add was glad no one was around to see him.

He didn't want people to see him just talking to himself. Honestly, he had gotten used to talking to Esper, but maybe that was just a sign that he was losing more of his sanity by the minute.

But he was still a little relieved to have Esper with him. It was nice having a bit of company.

Lightning suddenly crashed and crackled behind him.

Blue light materialized and gradually gathered together into one spot, gradually forming into a small door. The atmosphere around Add immediately changed and somehow it got even colder inside the cave.

But Add didn't even bother to turn around and see what was going on behind him. He already knew perfectly well what was happening, and where the door had suddenly come from.

"This energy…" he mumbled quietly. "So, you're finally here."

The door made of pure energy opened up slowly and someone stepped out.

The person walked up behind Add and stared down at the white-haired boy without uttering a word.

Add laughed, didn't get up, and instead only turned his head.

He saw a man standing in the cave with him, and it only caused Add to laugh again.

"I was expecting you, Glave. What took you so long?"

Glave didn't respond. He didn't make any noise at all.

"Don't worry. I know why you're here. You failed to kill me in Lanox, and now you've come back to try again.

Glave still didn't respond.

"You sure you want to do this?" Add said, still sitting down. He glanced at Glave once more, then allowed his grin to grow.

The man in the black cloak ignored Add, and instead held up his right hand and collected energy in it. He was ready to tear this boy apart in mere seconds. He made no effort to hide his murderous intent towards Add.

And in response to that, Add laughed one last time.

"Alright, let's finish this."


End file.
